NATO and the EU agreed to create a task force on resilience and critical infrastructure protection, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday at a press conference in Brussels.

The focus of the joint task force will be on making "our critical infrastructure, technology and supply chains more resilient to potential threats and to take action to mitigate potential vulnerabilities," Stoltenberg said.

The move comes after a sabotage attack on the underwater Nord Stream gas pipelines last year and as the two organizations seek to bolster cooperation amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the task force would bring together EU and NATO experts to study vulnerabilities of key infrastructure and recommend ways to better protect it.

"We have seen the sabotage of Nord Stream that has so shown that we need to be ready and that we need to confront this new type of threat," von der Leyen said at a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has upended the European security order and spurred calls for greater coordination between the U.S.-led military alliance NATO and the EU.

The two organizations - which share 21 members - on Tuesday signed a cooperation pledge to take their partnership to the "next level".

Four large gas leaks were discovered on Nord Stream's two pipelines off the Danish island of Bornholm at the end of September, with seismic institutes recording two underwater explosions just prior.

Investigations by Danish and Swedish authorities have confirmed the leaks were due to sabotage and experts have said that only a state has the means to carry out such an operation. But investigations have not identified who was responsible.

NATO has already bolstered its naval deployments in the region in the wake of the attacks on pipelines.

(With input from AFP)