Closing summary
It is approaching 9pm in Kyiv and Vilnius, this live blog is coming to a close. Below is a summary of today’s stories:
An ascension plan published Nato said “Ukraine’s future” is in the alliance and that the nation would join when “allies agree and conditions are met” but failed to provide a timeline for when this would happen. A communique published by members of the alliance said “allies will continue to support and review Ukraine’s progress on interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms that are required”.
Nato’s plans about Ukraine’s membership to the alliance prompted the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to say he has “faith” but not confidence in Nato decisions. Before the communique was published by the alliance, Zelenskiy said it would be “absurd” if Ukraine was not offered Nato membership.
A woman has been killed by Russian shelling in the village of Sofiyivka in the Kherson region, the governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram. Prokudin also claimed residential quarters in the region have been set on fire by “Russian terrorists” which has left two people injured, one of whom is in a serious condition
Rishi Sunak said he hoped that there would be “demonstrable progress” towards Ukraine’s eventual membership of Nato at the two days leaders summit, but did not give any timescale or set any conditions the country might have to meet before becoming a member. The prime minister said that “Ukraine’s rightful place is in Nato” as he flew out to the summit. Nato would “stand by the language of Bucharest in 2008”, Sunak added, referring to the summit where Ukraine’s eventual membership was agreed in principle, but no timetable or roadmap was set out to the long running frustration of the country’s leaders.
France will start supplying long-range Scalp missiles to Ukraine, which will allow Kyiv’s forces to defend themselves, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. “I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment to enable the Ukrainians to have the capacity to strike deeply while keeping our doctrine to allow Ukraine to defend its territory,” he said.
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said that if the US supplied cluster bombs to Ukraine, Moscow would be forced to use “similar weapons” against Ukrainian forces. “In the event that the US supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian armed forces will be forced to use similar weapons against the armed forces of Ukraine as a response,” Shoigu said on Tuesday.
Nato says it has not seen a change in Russia’s nuclear posture despite its announcement that it is stationing nuclear weapons in Belarus. However, Stoltenberg cautioned that “the nuclear rhetoric of Russia is reckless and dangerous. Nato allies are monitoring closely what Russia is doing”. He went on to say “so far we haven’t seen any changes in the Russian nuclear deployment posture that requires a change from us, but we will remain vigilant”.
Turkey agreed on Monday to allow Sweden to join Nato, setting the stage for the allies to showcase their unity at a summit focused on supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s block on Sweden’s membership bid had cast a cloud over preparations for Tuesday’s meeting, but the countries ironed out their differences in eleventh-hour talks in Vilnius.
Nato’s policy towards Russia increases the risk of direct conflict between bloc members and Moscow, Russia’s RIA news agency cited the Russian ambassador to Belgium, Alexander Tokovinin, as saying.
In his daily press briefing, Dmitry Peskov at the Kremlin has been highly critical of the Nato summit in Vilnius, and singled out France’s offer of longer-range missiles for criticism. Addressing the issue of Sweden joining the alliance, Peskov said Sweden’s expected accession to Nato would have clear negative implications for Russia’s security and that Moscow would respond with similar measures to those it took after Finland joined the western military alliance.
Ukraine has said it shot down 26 Russian drones overnight, however two got through and caused damage in Odesa. Suspilne reported: “Two kamikaze drones hit the administration building of a port facility in Odesa: two port terminals, including a grain one, caught fire. The fire was extinguished, there were no critical damages or injuries.”
Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency is reporting a claim by a retired member of occupation forces in Luhansk that Russia has made significant progress in the direction of Kupiansk.
Updated
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has failed in a last-ditch attempt to secure an invitation to join Nato, Dan Sabbagh reports from Vilnius.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy failed in a last-ditch effort to secure an invitation to join Nato after leaders of the 31 countries signed off on a declaration that did not give Ukraine a firm timetable or clear conditions for its eventual membership.
The frustrated Ukrainian president had accused Joe Biden and other leaders present at a summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, of showing disrespect and complained that there was “no readiness” to invite his country to join.
But the dramatic lunchtime intervention had no impact on the final summit communique, issued a few hours later. It said that while “Ukraine’s future is in Nato”, the alliance would only “extend an invitation to Ukraine” when Kyiv had completed certain “democratic and security sector reforms”.
Zelenskiy said in a statement issued after the communique he would like his “faith in a strong Nato” to become confidence. “Today I embarked on a trip here with faith in decisions, with faith in partners, with faith in a strong Nato. In a Nato that does not hesitate, does not waste time and does not look back at any aggressor … And I would like this faith to become confidence.”
The communique’s language reflects opposition from Germany and the US that too firm a commitment could prompt an escalation from Russia and, if Ukraine was allowed to join the alliance while the conflict continued, it could ultimately bring Nato into a war against Moscow.
