July 11, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Pence appears on CNN on Tuesday, July 11.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Ukraine’s NATO membership should not be considered “during the war” and should wait until “after the war is won.” 

Pence continued to doubt former President Donald Trump’s promise of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine within 24 hours without offering major concessions to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Pence also defended the Trump administration — of which he served — for staying “firm” against Putin, despite “however Trump spoke about him.”

The presidential candidate said he “conveyed” that “firmness” in his interactions with Trump.

Pence, who has become a strong advocate for US support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion, is so far the only Republican presidential candidate to visit Ukraine.

On a trip to the nation last month, Pence met with Zelensky and affirmed that “the United States and the free world continue to stand with you until victory is achieved but then justice is also achieved.”

Pence said he assured the Ukrainian leader that he’ll “continue to do everything in our power to make sure that we provide the Ukrainian military with the support they need until they repel the Russian invasion and restore the sovereignty of this country.”

Russia launched airstrikes toward the Kyiv region for the second night in a row during the early hours of Wednesday (local time), but Ukraine’s air defense systems engaged in repelling the attack, according to the Kyiv regional military administration. 

The strikes come following an overnight attack on Monday in which drones launched by Russia were shot down by Ukraine’s air defense.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is seen during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11

The United Kingdom is expected to announce a new major funding package for Ukraine, which will include additional ammunition and combat vehicles, as well as £50 million ($64.7 million USD) in support for equipment repair and a new military rehabilitation center, according to a Downing Street statement.

The UK also said G7 partners are expected to agree to an international framework for Ukraine’s long-term security arrangements on Wednesday, which “will set out how allies will support Ukraine over the coming years to end the war and deter and respond to any future attack.”

The British government’s latest funding package will include:

“As Ukraine makes strategic progress in their counteroffensive, and the degradation of Russian forces begins to infect (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s front line, we are stepping up our formal arrangements to protect Ukraine for the long term,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in the statement.  

“Supporting [Ukraine’s] progress on the pathway to NATO membership, coupled with formal, multilateral, and bilateral agreements and the overwhelming support of NATO members will send a strong signal to President Putin and return peace to Europe,” Sunak said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Joe Biden shake hands during a NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania July 11.

A full-court press by the Biden administration in the days leading up to the NATO summit capped months of behind-the-scenes diplomacy to get Turkey to move ahead with Sweden’s accession to NATO.

A major part of that diplomatic effort: Getting progress on the potential sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara – a request that, despite claims by top US officials, had become linked to the question of Sweden’s membership to NATO.

All eyes are now on a meeting Wednesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to see if the two leaders can do enough to assuage one US lawmaker’s concerns and gain the approval of the F-16 jet sale.

Ahead of the high-stakes meeting, the Biden administration expects that Erdogan and Mitsotakis will commit to keeping the calm in the region and possibly strike an agreement to respect one another’s airspace, after a year of unprecedented Turkish incursions into Greek airspace, a US official familiar with efforts and a regional diplomat told CNN.

The hope is that such a statement could address Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez’s concerns.

After Finland and Sweden were invited to join NATO, efforts got underway to ensure their membership in the defensive alliance. Turkey put up obstacles to both countries, but eventually allowed Helsinki to move ahead. However, Ankara continued to maintain opposition to Sweden, making demands related to Kurdish terror groups, like the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and arms sales.

Behind the scenes, the F-16 sale was also operating as an implicit demand by Ankara, and US diplomats got to work on extensive engagements with both counterparts and lawmakers.

Among those engagements were multiple trips to Washington, DC, by US Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake.

Read more:

Julianne Smith, US Ambassador to NATO, told CNN that it is “very tough” to agree on a timeline for Ukraine’s accession to the alliance while the country is still at war.  

“Even the Ukrainians themselves will tell you that they need to make further reforms. They’ve made good progress on a variety of democratic and security sector reforms, but they’ll have to continue working in that direction,” Smith told CNN Tuesday.

Smith reiterated that Ukraine has already taken positive steps, which led to NATO agreeing to streamline the accession process by removing a key hurdle for Ukraine — the requirement for a Membership Action Plan.

When asked about whether Ukraine’s position and the lack of a timeline gives Russia an incentive to continue fighting, Smith emphasized that allies have already committed to Ukraine’s future in NATO, as well as to giving the country long-term support. 

Smith also said the United States is “thrilled” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in attendance for the summit and for the first NATO Ukraine Council, adding, “I think this sends a very strong signal to President Putin.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the crowd at Lukiskiu Square in Vilnius on July 11.

NATO allies on Tuesday reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s push for membership of the alliance, according to a final declaration issued by the 31-member group at a summit in Lithuania. 

NATO allies also reiterated their condemnation of Russia’s war and its “blatant violations of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and OSCE commitments and principles.” 

Support for Kyiv was clear around the Lithuanian capital. Messages were even displayed on the windows of shuttle buses carrying people to and from the summit venue. 

“While you are waiting for this bus, Ukraine is waiting to become a NATO member,” read a message written on the window of one of the buses.

Here are the latest developments from the summit:

Biden and Erdogan hold bilateral talks at the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11.

US President Joe Biden President congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the agreement reached with the Swedish prime minister that would allow for Sweden’s membership in NATO, according to the White House.

Biden and Erdogan met at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

The leaders “discussed efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation, welcoming the latest round of discussions in the strategic mechanism and exchanging views on defense and economic priorities,” the White House said in a readout of the meeting.

“They also discussed regional issues of shared interest, including their enduring support for Ukraine and the importance of preserving stability in the Aegean,” it added.

Cluster bomb capsules on the ground amid Russia-Ukraine war at the frontline city of Avdiivka, Ukraine on March 23.

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu warned of retaliation if the United States continues with plans to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine.

“In the event that the United States supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, Russia will be forced to respond in a reciprocal manner,” Shoigu said, according to Russian television network Channel 5, which carried his comments.

Former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is now on the Russian Security Council, said on Telegram it had been reported that the Ukrainians were already using the munitions on the southern front.

Tokmak is a town near the frontlines in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

Russian military bloggers have claimed that the munitions are already being used by Ukrainian forces. Neither Ukraine nor the United States has said they are already deployed.

The White House said Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine was a “temporary” one. 

In comments published late Sunday, the Russian embassy in Washington said the United States “de facto” admitted to committing war crimes by supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine.

The embassy added that the decision shows that “the US is ready to annihilate all life far from its own borders and are using the Ukrainians to do it.”

Some more context: The US confirmed last week that it will send cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package, following months of debate within the Biden administration about whether to provide Kyiv with the controversial weapons banned by over 100 countries, including key US allies.

The Russian Foreign Ministry described the transfer of cluster munitions as “an act of desperation and evidence of failure of the highly publicized Ukrainian ‘counteroffensive.’”

How do they work? Cluster munitions, also called cluster bombs, are canisters that carry tens to hundreds of smaller bomblets, also known as submunitions. The canisters can be dropped from aircraft, launched from missiles or fired from artillery, naval guns or rocket launchers.

The canisters break open at a prescribed height, depending upon the area of the intended target, and the bomblets inside spread out over that area. They are fused by a timer to explode closer to or on the ground, spreading shrapnel that is designed to kill troops or take out armored vehicles such as tanks.

Both the Ukrainians and the Russians have used cluster bombs since Moscow’s forces invaded in February 2022. More recently, Ukrainian forces have begun using Turkish-provided cluster munitions on the battlefield.

Biden addresses the media in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

US President Joe Biden will skip tonight’s Heads of State and Government Dinner at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Pressed by reporters traveling with the president why Biden is a no-show, an official said the president “has four full days of official business and is preparing for a big speech tomorrow in addition to another day at the summit.” 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend tonight’s dinner in Biden’s stead.

It’s not the first time Biden skipped a dinner at a major summit. At the G-20 in Indonesia last November, the president skipped a gala dinner with world leaders after a day of meetings.

On Biden’s schedule: On Monday, he met with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street and King Charles at Windsor Castle before traveling to Vilnius, while on Tuesday, he participated in a series of leader meetings at the summit.

He delivers an address in Vilnius on Wednesday before traveling to Helsinki, where he’ll attend the Nordic Leaders’ Summit on Thursday and take questions in a news conference. 

The reported death of a senior Russian commander, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov, in Ukraine would deprive Russia of one of its most experienced generals. Tsokov would also be the most senior Russian general to have been killed in Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have said that Tsokov was killed in a missile attack on a Russian headquarters in the occupied city of Berdyansk. CNN has been unable to confirm his death.

However, a Russian Telegram channel, Military Informer, wrote:

Military Informer has more than 600,000 subscribers. 

The Southern Military District has been heavily involved in the invasion since it began in February 2022. The Southern is one of four land districts into which the Russian armed forces are organized.

Amid persistent turmoil in Russia’s command structure, Tsokov continued to be promoted through the campaign. A presidential decree in February promoted him to the rank of general lieutenant.

He remained in the armed forces despite reports by Russian military bloggers that he’d been wounded last September in the Svatove area of Kharkiv. At that point he appears to have been the commander of the 20th Guards Army, having been recently promoted from command of the 144th Motorized Rifle Division.

Russian military bloggers said he received treatment in a St Petersburg hospital.

Tsokov, age 51, appears to have been a rising star in the Russian military. In 2021 he addressed a ceremony at the Kremlin attended by President Vladimir Putin for military cadets.

Thanking Putin for driving the modernization of Russia’s military, Tsokov said: “For us, the profession of an officer is not just service. This is the calling and meaning of all life, the willingness to sacrifice life for our great Motherland.”

Independent analysts and CNN’s own tally indicate that Russia has lost about 10 generals in combat since the invasion began.

The Ukrainian military said it is making progress on the southern front and has “conducted both offensive and effective defense operations.”

Valerii Shershen, a spokesperson for the forces in the south, said the Russians had been forced to “pull up reserves as a result of the onslaught by our strike units.”

CNN cannot verify the Ukrainian claims of battlefield gains.

Ukrainian officials have made it clear that minimizing losses is their priority as they try to break down complex Russian defenses developed over a period of months.

In the east, Russian attacks continue around Marinka and Avdiivka, Shershen said. “We are fighting back and holding our ground. Over the last day, 18 combat engagements took place here, most of them in the area of Marinka.” 

He claimed 74 Russian troops were killed, 85 wounded and 19 surrendered.

NATO allies gathered at the summit in Lithuania have approved the military alliance’s most “comprehensive defense plans” since the Cold War, the group’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said in a tweet on Tuesday. 

“Allies took key decisions at a critical moment for our security. We agreed a package to strengthen Ukraine & provide a clear path towards NATO. We also approved our most comprehensive defence plans since the Cold War, backed by an enduring commitment to invest more in defence,” he wrote.

China's President Xi Jinping, left, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 20, 2023.

NATO allies have called on China to abstain from supporting the Russian war effort in Ukraine “in any way,” stressing that China’s “deepening” partnership with Russia runs against the alliance’s values. 

In a joint communiqué published Tuesday, NATO allies said the “stated ambitions and coercive policies” of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) challenge the alliance’s “interests, security and values.” 

NATO allies issued a specific call to China to “act responsibly and refrain from providing any lethal aid to Russia” for use in the war in Ukraine. 

Some background: China has refused to condemn Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine or call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory.

In late May, China’s envoy for the war in Ukraine, Li Hui, carried out a two-week tour of Europe in which China stressed resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Although China has adopted a neutral stance toward the conflict, NATO leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have publicly expressed their hope that Chinese President Xi Jinping could “reason” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. 

Xi last met with Putin during a state visit at the Kremlin in March, and the two leaders touted the close ties and strategic visions shared by their countries.

Participants of the NATO Summit pose for a photo in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

NATO allies on Tuesday reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s push for membership of the alliance, according to a final declaration issued by the 31-member group at a summit in Lithuania. 

NATO allies also reiterated their condemnation “in the strongest terms (of) Russia’s blatant violations of international law, the Charter of the United Nations, and OSCE commitments and principles.” 

“There can be no impunity for Russian war crimes and other atrocities, such as attacks against civilians and the destruction of civilian infrastructure that deprives millions of Ukrainians of basic human services,” according to the declaration. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that he doesn’t believe “we’ve seen the last of” the developments related to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the last chapter in this drama,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

The top US diplomat reiterated that the revolt was an internal Russian matter, but called it a “truly extraordinary thing.”

“We’re at a place 16 months ago where Russia was on the doorsteps of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. And now, just a couple of weeks ago, mercenaries of Putin’s own making were on the doorsteps of Moscow,” he said.

Some more context: Putin met Prizgozhin days after his short-lived mutiny last month, the Kremlin claimed Monday, clearing up some confusion over the Wagner chief’s whereabouts but adding to the mystery over what was the greatest threat to Putin’s rule yet.

Allies know why the United States is providing controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

“Every ally I’ve talked to has said they understand why we’re doing this, when we’re doing it,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

The top US diplomat reiterated that the US is providing the munitions, which have been banned by more than 100 countries, to “fill the gap” as the world’s ammunition stocks run low.

“The stockpiles around the world and in Ukraine of the unitary munitions, not the cluster munitions, were running low. They’re about to be depleted,” Blinken explained.

Blinken said allies have been working to ramp up capacity of conventional weapons, but “there was gonna be a gap between when they ran really low on those munitions and when the new ones were able to come online. These cluster munitions fill the gap.”

Blinken said that Ukraine is using these munitions in defense, while Russia is implementing them “for a war of aggression.”

He added that because of Moscow’s use of the controversial munitions, the world would already have to assist Ukraine in de-mining its territory.

Leaders attend the opening high-level session of the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

NATO allies have expressed “serious concern” over Iran’s “malicious activities” within allied territory, urging the country to stop supplying drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. 

In a joint communiqué published Tuesday during a meeting in Lithuania, NATO allies stressed that “Iran’s support to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine” is impacting Euro-Atlantic security. 

“We express our serious concern over Iran’s malicious activities within Allied territory,” the statement added. 

The allies also reiterated its “clear determination” that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon, calling on the country to “fulfill its legal obligations under its Non-Proliferation Treaty-required safeguards agreement.” 

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov addresses the media in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov says Ukraine has reached an agreement with 11 partner states on forming a coalition that will train pilots on F-16 combat aircraft.

Tweeting from Vilnius, Lithuania, where he is attending the NATO summit, Reznikov said:

Key context: President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials have made the acquisition of F-16s a priority in their negotiations with Western partners. So far, no government has committed to providing Ukraine with the US-made aircraft.

CNN reported in May that US President Joe Biden administration has signaled to European allies that the US would allow them to export F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The Pentagon also said in May that “F-16s for Ukraine is about the long-term commitment to Ukraine,” and not for the country’s current counteroffensive.

A handful of European countries have a supply of the US-made F-16s, including the Netherlands, which has signaled a willingness to export some of them to Ukraine. But the US would have to approve that third party transfer because of the jets’ sensitive US technology.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the crowd at Lukiskiu Square in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed a public crowd in Lithuania on Tuesday, saying that the Ukrainian flag is “still alive and free” despite being under attack.

Zelensky pointed to a Ukrainian flag sent from the embattled city of Bakhmut, saying it is a symbol that Lithuania and the rest of Europe will never have to fight Russian soldiers because there will be no war in Europe. Ukraine will protect its freedom and Europe’s freedom, he added.

Zelensky is in Vilnius for the NATO summit. After his speech, the Ukrainian flag sent from the frontlines of the war was raised in the Lithuanian capital.

“Russian ambitions will stay in ruins,” he said.

There are reports of further missile attacks late Tuesday on the Russian-occupied cities of Berdiansk and Tokmak in southern Ukraine.

Geolocated images show large plumes of smoke rising close to the coast in Berdiansk after reports of explosions on Tuesday afternoon local time.

The Ukrainian-controlled Berdiansk city administration (which is not physically in the city) said local residents reported hearing an explosion around 2 p.m. “We are waiting for details and official confirmation from the General Staff,” it said.

Later it added: “At 4:30 p.m. the local Berdiansk residents heard explosions again — this time around 6 of them.”

A Russian-appointed official in the region, Vladimir Rogov, said that “AFU militants launched another missile strike on Berdiansk,” referring to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “Most of the missiles were shot down over the sea near Berdiansk commercial seaport by the air defense system…One hit was recorded on the territory of a city enterprise,” Rogov added.

A local community channel posted that “communication and internet is down in the [Berdiansk] area,” citing local reports. “About four explosions have been heard, and air defense is working,” the channel added.

Ivan Fedorov – the Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, which is in the same region – posted on Telegram: “Hot summer in South of Ukraine. The occupiers in Berdiansk and Tokmak experience abundant fires.”

In Tokmak, a pro-Russian social media outlet said “The AFU massively shell Tokmak. Preliminary, 6 strikes were recorded.”

Both Berdiansk and Tokmak are critical hubs for Russian forces in supplying the frontline defenses in Zaporizhzhia. They have been frequent targets for Ukrainian missile and rocket attacks.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Tuesday that the alliance has changed the requirements needed for Ukraine to join the group.

Stoltenberg said allied countries “agreed to remove the requirements for membership action,” which will change Ukraine’s membership path from a “two-step process to a one-step process.” 

While he said NATO allies will invite Ukraine to join the military alliance “when conditions are met,” Stoltenberg reaffirmed that the country “will become a member of NATO.” 

US President Joe Biden meets with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are now holding a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Before going into the meeting, Biden thanked Erdogan for his leadership and diplomacy on issues that confronted NATO ahead of this summit, such as approval of Sweden’s bid to the US-led alliance.

Sen. Mitch McConnell talks to a reporter at the US Capitol on Monday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that President Joe Biden “made the right call” on his decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine in its fight against Russia. 

“These munitions will improve Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian forces and compensate for shortfalls in standard artillery rounds. Despite vocal opposition from his own party, the president ultimately made the right call,” he said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “While the risk of unexploded ordinance is not zero, it is fantasy to believe that wars can be found without risk. Here’s the bottom line – it should be up to Ukraine whether to employ these effective weapons on its own soil.”

McConnell admonished members of the Senate who have criticized Biden’s decision, saying they shouldn’t let “virtue signaling get in the way of reality.”

“Ukraine’s war will not be won with yard signs or hollow promises to hold Putin accountable. It will be won with weapons. The same rules apply to future conflicts we hope to deter. Unity is important, but hard power will be decisive,” he said. 

Other US senators are divided over Biden’s cluster munitions deal with Ukraine.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine reiterated his concerns over Biden’s deal to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, while Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, praised it as “a step in the right direction.” 

Kaine told reporters, “This is a full-fledged war, we got to help Ukraine win. I’m just worried that when the leading nation in the world sends the signal that it’s okay to use these, we have good reason, other nations might think, ‘well, we have a good reason to use them too,’ and their reasons may not be as good as ours.”

Asked if Biden should change course, Kaine said that is unlikely. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I mean, I’ve expressed my concerns and expressed them to the White House even before the decision and I do view some of the limitations they put in place are responsive to some of the concerns that some of us have raised.”

However, Rounds said, “I think it’s the correct decision to make,” noting that the newer models of these weapons have fewer “duds” and that they won’t be used on civilians.

Ukrainian servicemen fire a rocket at Russian troops near the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk region of Ukraine on Monday.

Ukrainian forces report further progress around the city of Bakhmut, where they claim to have retaken some territory in recent weeks.

The Third Separate Assault Brigade said it had defeated units of the Russian 83rd Air Assault Brigade near Bakhmut and had liberated more than a kilometer of territory.

Part of the Ukrainian drive has been to win the higher ground around Bakhmut, bringing the city within their fire control.

“As a result of the offensive, an enemy platoon was completely eliminated,” the Ukranian brigade said.

The commander of Ukrainian ground forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, also posted video said to show the elimination of Russian personnel in the area.

Ukrainian officials have indicated that their goal is to trap Russian forces within the city of Bakhmut by aiming to take ground on the southern and northern flanks.

For their part, Russian sources have claimed success further east around the town of Lyman.

The Russia’s defense ministry said artillery fire had taken out an M777 howitzer “in the Lyman area in the course of counter-battery operations.”

Neither side has been able to make any meaningful breakthrough along the eastern front lines in recent weeks, with small amounts of territory changing hands.

Germany will spend 2% of its economic output on defense as early as next year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday.

Scholz said this output will be achieved through “the resources of our budget and the special assets,” referring to the 100 billion euros ($109.7 billion USD) special funds he pledged for defense days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Germany will ensure that the 2% target is achieved in the future “on a permanent basis from the regular budget resources,” even if the special assets have been used up, he added.

This comes after NATO members decided Friday to make the 2% now a minimum target given the ongoing threat from the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine.

“It is important for us from the outset that there are security guarantees for Ukraine that can be effective after peace. And to do this we will also make the necessary arrangements that are now relevant to what we are currently providing in terms of support, but also to what is required in a peace situation,” Scholz also on arrival to the NATO summit in Vilnius. 

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson arrives for a round table meeting of the North Atlantic Council during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Tuesday he was “very happy” with Turkey’s green light to Sweden’s NATO membership bid.

On Monday, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance. Previously, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had suggested Sweden could only join the alliance after his country was accepted into the European Union.

Kristersson told reporters before the start of the NATO summit in Lithuania that Sweden “has a lot to bring to the table as well.”

“It’s well-known that Sweden, after 200 years of non-alignment, we seek common protection. But I also want all NATO allies to know that we also provide security, provide common security. And we are here for the long term,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to attend the NATO summit, a presidential spokesperson confirmed.

The summit of the 31 member states is expected to agree on a path to membership of the alliance for Ukraine.

A motorcade was seen leaving the airport in Vilnius soon after a Polish government aircraft believed to be carrying Zelensky arrived. 

Ukraine still has requirements to meet before it can possibly join NATO, according to White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby.

He pushed back against comments from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday criticizing NATO leaders over discussions on a path to NATO membership.

Still, Kirby acknowledged frustration from Zelensky, who tweeted a scathing criticism of discussions over a potential path to NATO membership at this week’s summit in Lithuania on Tuesday, writing “Uncertainty is weakness.”

“Yes, there are frustrations, there are desires to end this war quickly, all of that we understand, Kirby said. “Of course, we share many of those concerns.”

France's President Emmanuel Macron speaks during the NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

France has sent some longer-range missiles to Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday, as he arrived for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

“I think what’s important for us today is to send a message of support for Ukraine, of NATO unity, and of determination that Russia cannot and must not win this war,” he added.

A few hours after Macron delivered the announcement at the NATO summit in Vilnius, a spokesperson for the Elysee Palace told CNN that some SCALP missiles — also known as “Storm Shadow” by their UK name — have already been delivered to Ukraine.

The spokesperson also confirmed to CNN that the SCALP missiles will be fired from Ukrainian aircraft.

More about the missiles: Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French low-observable, long-range, air-launched cruise missile developed since 1994 by French conglomerate Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA. The full French name of the missiles is SCALP-EG, which in English stands for “Long Range Autonomous Cruise Missile System – General Purpose.”

SCALP or Storm Shadow missiles have a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers, or 155 miles, which is just short of the 185-mile range capability of the US-made surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, that Ukraine has asked for.

The Storm Shadow has the range to strike deep into Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine — a capability that British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said Kyiv has made use of since the UK provided the missiles to Ukraine in May.

What Russia says: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has condemned France’s announcement, describing it as a mistake that could have consequences for Kyiv.

“From our point of view, this is an erroneous decision, fraught with consequences for the Ukrainian side, because, naturally, this will force us to take countermeasures,” the Kremlin spokesperson said.

CNN’s Anna Chernova contributed reporting to this post.

The NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, is underway. Topping the agenda: Ukraine’s potential accession to the alliance. Ahead of the summit, US President Joe Biden told CNN that Ukraine was not yet ready to join the alliance as Russia’s full-scale invasion rages on.

NATO is instead finalizing a communique in which members will “agree on the language” surrounding Ukraine’s future ability to join the alliance. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is expected to arrive in Lithuania later today, voiced his frustration about his country not being involved in that language. He also said that “uncertainty” over Ukraine’s membership is motivation for Russia to “continue its terror.”

Here are the latest developments:

Here’s the latest map of control:

NATO leaders attend the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

Ukraine will get a robust package of “political and practical” support from NATO allies at the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview Tuesday morning on ABC.

“We’ve got a unified alliance that is going to demonstrate in very practical ways its enduring support for Ukraine, including the fact of membership,” Blinken said.

There will be a clear demonstration of the progress Ukraine has made toward membership, Blinken said in a separate interview on NBC. “That’s going to be reflected in what comes out of the summit, as well as work that still needs to be done,” he said.

Blinken’s comments come after the Ukrainian president expressed his concern about what NATO is considering offering Ukraine at the summit, pressing the need for an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance.

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store speaks prior to the official opening of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

Norway will provide $960 million in military aid to Ukraine in 2023, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced Tuesday.

“Ukraine has an urgent need for more military support and equipment. Norway is therefore increasing its military support to Ukraine by 2.5 billion Norwegian Krone (nearly $240 million) to a total of 10 billion Norwegian Krone (nearly $960 million) for 2023,” Støre announced at the NATO Summit in Vilnius.

According to the Norwegian government, Norway will be providing more than $7.2 billion in civilian and military support to Ukraine over five years, as well as $144,000 “in support for Ukraine’s reform efforts” over the same time period. 

In addition to pledging financial aid to Ukraine, Norway also committed to increasing its defense spending to a minimum of 2% of its gross domestic product.

NATO has requested that countries within the alliance spend a minimum of 2% of their GDP on defense spending since 2006, but in 2022, only seven allied countries — Greece, the US, the UK, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Croatia — met that guideline.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to arrive in Vilnius, Lithuania, for the NATO summit on Tuesday. 

“President Zelensky will come. I’m glad to welcome him, both at the dinner tonight and at the inaugural meeting of the NATO Ukraine Council tomorrow,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told journalists Tuesday at the summit. 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg chairs the NATO leaders summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

As the meeting of the North Atlantic Council began, US President Joe Biden sat beside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as the alliance’s leader welcomed two new faces to the table: Finland President Sauli Niinisto and Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Stoltenberg offered welcoming words to both before he turned to the matter of Ukraine.

His comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the alliance in a tweet for not offering more substantive accession plans to his country.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Russia will respond “adequately” to the potential expansion of the NATO military alliance.

Lavrov expressed his surprise at “the speed with which both Finland and Sweden abandoned their neutral status” in his opening remarks during talks with the Foreign Minister of Oman on Tuesday.

He also noted the potential loss of special trade, economic, investment, and other relations that the two countries had with Russia.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center, poses for an official family photo with the participants of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

The content of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, demonstrates a strong “anti-Russian” attitude among representatives of NATO member countries, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday during a regular conference call with journalists.

Peskov warned that Ukraine’s potential accession to NATO would be “highly dangerous for European security,” urging those who will be weighing the decision to consider the risks associated with such a step.

On Turkey and Sweden: Addressing Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s entry into NATO, Peskov said Russia acknowledges Ankara’s obligations as a member of the alliance and added that despite disagreements, there are areas of mutual interest between Russia and Turkey that are significant for both countries.

But he also noted that while Turkey can orient itself toward the West, there remains a reluctance from Europe to accept Turkey as a member. 

“If you call a spade a spade, no one wants to see Turkey in Europe,” Peskov told journalists, adding that Moscow intends to further develop the dialogue with Ankara.

Ukraine should join NATO “as quickly as possible,” but only after the Russian invasion “finishes,” UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told CNN on Tuesday from the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long asked to join the alliance, but many members have reservations about admitting Ukraine to its ranks while it is still at war. US President Joe Biden told CNN on Sunday that Ukraine is not yet ready to join NATO – a message that Wallace echoed in the interview with CNN.

Wallace said that NATO members should “work together to make sure that Russia fails in its… illegal invasion of Ukraine,” before permitting Ukraine to join the alliance. However, once the conflict finishes, Wallace said that NATO needed to be ready to accept Ukraine as a new member.

“Given we have an open-door policy, it’s important to state that we believe Ukraine does belong in NATO,” Wallace said, adding that Ukraine had taken some of the necessary “steps” to get there, including strengthening its military and eliminating corruption.

The British Defense Secretary also said he was “delighted” by Turkey’s eleventh-hour decision to green-light Sweden’s bid to join NATO on the eve of the Vilnius summit, which he claimed to have been “working quite hard behind the scenes” with other Western officials “to make sure this happens.”

“But it’s also really important for the integrity of the alliance. We have an open-door policy. We say if you meet certain conditions you can join.”

When asked why Turkey finally agreed to approve Sweden’s bid, having obstructed it for months, Wallace claimed that Sweden had taken measures to “deal with the threat” posed by Kurdish terror groups that Turkey felt Sweden had been soft on.

Wallace was asked if any other concessions had been made to Turkey to secure its approval – such as being provided with F16 fighter jets or even having its bid to join the EU accelerated. “I don’t know if there was anything extra,” Wallace said, adding that “Turkey’s a long way from EU membership.”

He claimed that “the international community talked to the Turkish at length” to persuade them that Sweden’s accession to Nato is “in everyone’s favor.”

A senior Russian commander, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov, has been killed near the Russian-occupied city of Berdiansk in the southern Zaporizhzhia region on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.

“It is reported that today, in the area of Berdiansk, Russian Lieutenant General Tsokov Oleg Yurievich was killed,” said Petro Andriushchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko. The mayor does not currently reside in Mariupol, which is under Russian control.

“In September 2022, he [Tsokov] was already injured, but he survived,” Andriushchenko said, adding that now the Russian commander’s death “is completed.” 

Another Ukrainian official, Yurii Mysyagin, who is a member of Ukraine’s parliament, also commented on the commander’s death.

“In the South, in the area of occupied Berdiansk, on July 11, 2023, Russian Lieutenant General Oleg Yurievich Tsokov was killed,” Mysyagin said. “The British ‘Storm Shadow’ [missile] came to visit accurately,” he added without elaborating further. In May, the UK delivered the Storm Shadows, long-range cruise missiles with stealth capabilities that were jointly developed by the UK and France.

CNN is unable to independently verify the reports about Tsokov’s death. 

The commander, who is among the individuals sanctioned by the United Kingdom over Russia’s war in Ukraine, was with Russia’s 144th Motorized Rifle Division back in 2022, according to Russian state news outlet TASS. 

Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store speaks to the media as he arrives to attend the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store underscored the historic nature of the NATO summit in Vilnius in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“For the first time in history the entire Nordic region will be inside NATO,” he said Tuesday, following Turkey’s agreement to back Sweden’s bid to join the alliance.

How we got here: Norway was one of the 12 founding members of NATO in 1949, along with Iceland and Denmark.

More than 70 years later, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, neighboring Nordic countries Finland and Sweden also applied to join the alliance.

Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April of this year — greatly expanding the alliance’s border with Russia — but Sweden’s membership bid was long frustrated by Turkey, which refused to green-light its application due to what it claimed was Sweden’s soft stance on Kurdish terror groups and it permitting anti-Islamic protests.

The day before the Vilnius summit was set to start, Sweden’s membership prospects were still uncertain. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday even tabled a bargain of sorts, claiming that Turkey would only “clear the way” for Sweden to join NATO if Brussels would “clear the way” for Turkey to join the European Union.

However, after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg later Monday, Turkey finally agreed to permit Sweden’s accession to the alliance.

Hungarian President Katalin Novák also said on Tuesday that she welcomes Turkey’s decision to support Sweden’s accession to NATO.

Hungary has also objected to the possibility of Sweden joining NATO in the past. Late last month, Hungary’s leading political party Fidesz told CNN that it expected Sweden to “allay its concerns” before the country voted on Sweden’s accession into NATO.

“In recent years, Swedish government figures have regularly insulted Hungarian voters and Hungary as a whole,” Fidesz’s press office told CNN. “It is objectionable to bring disputes between countries into NATO, so we expect those involved to allay the concerns of the Hungarian parliament, so that we can vote for their accession with the largest possible majority.”

CNN’s Catherine Nicholls contributed reporting to this post.

U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the media in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he agreed on proposed language for Ukraine’s future ability to join NATO, comments that came moments after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a blistering statement about that expected language, suggesting it did not go far enough toward his accession goals.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is among the top agenda items for NATO leaders along with discussing a future pathway for the war-torn country to join the alliance, which has prompted some division among leaders.

Zelensky said in a tweeted statement moments earlier that he has “received signals that certain wording is being discussed without Ukraine,” emphasizing that the “wording is about the invitation to become NATO member, not about Ukraine’s membership.”

Zelensky will attend meetings with NATO leaders Wednesday in Vilnius and will meet one-on-one with Biden. 

Biden has emphasized that Ukraine is not ready to enter NATO, telling CNN in an exclusive interview last week that Russia’s war in Ukraine needs to end before the alliance can consider adding Kyiv to its ranks.

Stoltenberg earlier Tuesday said he is “confident” that the summit will send “a positive and strong message” on Ukraine’s path to membership to the alliance.

When asked whether NATO will issue an invitation to Ukraine, Stoltenberg replied, “You will see the language in a few hours because we are now finalizing the communique.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 8.

The “uncertainty” over Ukraine’s NATO membership is motivation for Russia to “continue its terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a strongly worded statement Tuesday on his official Twitter account. 

“We value our allies. We value our shared security. And we always appreciate an open conversation. Ukraine will be represented at the NATO summit in Vilnius. Because it is about respect,” Zelensky said in a lengthy message posted in English. 

Zelensky is set to attend meetings with NATO leaders Wednesday in Vilnius, Lithuania.

“It’s unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership. While at the same time vague wording about ‘conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine,” Zelensky said. 

“It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance. This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. And for Russia, this means motivation to continue its terror,” he added. 

“Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit,” Zelensky said.

Germany has pledged to send Ukraine a weapons and military package worth €700 million ($769.9 million), according to the country’s Ministry of Defense on Tuesday.

In the statement, the German defense ministry said some of the equipment they would be delivering include two patriot launchers and 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles. In addition, they would also send 25 Leopard 1 A5 main battle tanks and five Bergepanzer 2 from industrial stocks or industrial refurbishment.

The statement added that Germany pledged 31 items in total from Bundeswehr stocks, including 20,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and 5,000 rounds of 155mm smoke ammunition.

In addition, Germany will send a LUNA drone system and a mine interdiction package, the statement said.

On Tuesday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement that the weapons package is designed to “support Ukraine in its defense against Russia.”

The White House sought to make clear that US President Joe Biden’s controversial decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine was a “temporary” measure, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan telling reporters that it will be a matter of “months” as Ukraine bridges a munitions gap.

He continued, “We were not prepared to leave Ukraine defenseless, period. So for us, when it came down to the choice, our choice was, despite the difficulty, despite the challenges, despite the risks of civilian harm associated with cluster munitions, the risk to civilian harm of leaving Ukraine without the ammo it needed was, from our perspective, greater,” Sullivan said.

Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zaharia Friday that he took the “difficult decision” to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions because “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition” needed to sustain its counteroffensive against Russia.

Sullivan added that the US views the provision of cluster munitions as “temporary” until more unitary rounds can be produced.

“We view that as temporary because many months ago, we began the intensive process of ramping up our unitary round production. Once it hits a level where unitary round production can satisfy Ukraine’s needs, then there will be no need to continue giving cluster munitions,” he said, declining to provide a timeline due to questions of usage rates and the defense industrial base hitting its production marks.

Pressed again on timing, he said, “It’s months, but the question is, how many?”

Why are cluster munitions controversial?: Cluster munitions are canisters that carry tens to hundreds of smaller bomblets. The canisters break open at a prescribed height, depending upon the area of the intended target, and the bomblets inside are dispersed over that area.

Because bomblets fall over a wide area, they can endanger non-combatants.

Over 100 countries, including the UK, France and Germany, have outlawed the munitions under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but the US and Ukraine are not signatories to the ban.

Members of Wagner group stand on the balcony of the circus building in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24.

NATO has not seen any movement of Wagner mercenary fighters to Belarus, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday.

There has been widespread speculation about where the Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has been since the aborted mutiny on June 23-24.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered an agreement for him to move to Belarus, but said last week Prigozhin was not in the country. 

Last week, the presidents of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia wrote a letter to the NATO Secretary General and the Heads of the NATO Alliance, warning them about the threat “posed by Russia’s aggressive actions and the evolving situation in Belarus.”

According to the Lithuanian President’s Communication Group, the three leaders also pointed out that “the relocation of the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries and their leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to Belarus would generate risks for the political stability in Belarus and in consequence a potential loss of control over conventional and nuclear weapons.”

The Polish Defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak tweeted on Friday that over 1,000 soldiers and almost 200 units of equipment from the 12th and 17th Mechanized Brigades were starting to move to the east of the country.”

Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence has disclosed what it says are the details of how a Russian submarine commander was shot dead in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, but stopped short of explicitly claiming responsibility for his death.

Stanislav Rzhitsky was killed on Monday by an “unknown person” according to Russia’s TASS news service, adding that “the motive for the crime is being investigated. Suspects are identified.”

In an unusually detailed statement on Telegram early Tuesday, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence disclosed how it had apparently happened.

“Due to heavy rain, the park was deserted, so there were no witnesses who could provide details or identify the attacker,” the statement added.

Rzhitsky commanded one of Russia’s Kilo-class submarine of the Black Sea fleet, capable of firing Kalibr cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian statement and Russian news reports.

Submarine-launched missile attacks have been responsible for some of the most destructive strikes on Ukrainian cities, including one almost exactly a year ago on the central city of Vinnytsia which killed dozens of people, including three children. 

Anti-tank fortifications from previous conflicts line the beach in front of the Chinese city of Xiamen on April 9, in Kinmen, Taiwan.

The presence of four Asia-Pacific leaders at the NATO summit this week suggests that Ukraine is not the only major security issue on the agenda of the European-North American defense alliance.

The war in Ukraine has brought members of the US-led alliance closer than at any time since the Cold War, and on Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg summed up their collective concerns that what is happening in Ukraine today could occur in Asia tomorrow.

“Beijing is threatening its neighbors and bullying other countries,” he said, adding that the Chinese threat extends directly into the homelands of the 31 countries in the alliance as the ruling Chinese Communist Party attempts “to take control of critical supply chains and infrastructure in NATO states.”

Autocratic nations, including China, were looking at Russia’s actions in Ukraine, and weighing the costs and benefits of offensive action, he said.

While not naming the island of Taiwan, the self-governing democracy is the most obvious point of comparison given China’s ruling Communist Party remains committed to unifying it with the mainland – by force if necessary.

For its part, China says Taiwan is an internal matter and it sees no role for countries in the region, let alone NATO members, to be interfering.

Read the full analysis here.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives an interview prior to the official opening of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday said that the alliance condemns the announcement that Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

“We are monitoring closely what they are doing,” Stoltenberg said in a doorstep interview ahead of the NATO summit taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania.

“So far we haven’t seen any changes in the Russian nuclear deployments posture that requires any changes from our side,” he continued.

“But we remain vigilant, and we will ensure that we of course already to protect and defend every NATO allies against any potential threat.”

Some background: Russia announced plans in March to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, in a sign of a growing military alliance between the neighbouring countries.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in May that Russia had begun to transfer the weapons to its territory – and even offered to provide nuclear weapons to other countries willing “to join the Union State of Russia and Belarus.”

“There will be nuclear weapons for everyone,” Lukashenko said.

However, there are doubts over whether the transfer of weapons has really begun. While Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that the facilities in Belarus necessary to store tactical nuclear weapons would be ready by July 7, Western officials have seen no signs of that.

Belarus still does not appear to have the proper infrastructure in place to house the weapons, officials said, and it will likely be months, if not longer, before doing so is even feasibly possible. Available satellite imagery has also not shown any signs of the kind of preparations and security that would be standard at a Russian nuclear facility. 

U.S. President Joe Biden, left, meets with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11.

US President Joe Biden is “looking forward” to Sweden’s accession to NATO, he said as he began his engagements in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday. 

“I am confident we’ll get that done,” he said of Sweden’s membership, which still requires a parliamentary procedure in Turkey to formally approve. 

Ahead of the summit’s start later Tuesday, Biden said the US was in attendance “to reaffirm our commitment to NATO.”

“We are committed to Lithuania, and to the Baltics, and to NATO,” he said. “Our pledge to be with you has not wavered.”

He also looked ahead to the summit, which comes at a critical moment for Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia. 

And Biden reiterated the NATO commitment to Article 5, the principle that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members.

Nauseda welcomed Biden to Lithuania and called it a “historic” summit “even before it started” due to the Sweden announcement.

Earlier Tuesday, Biden and Nauseda participated in a formal arrival ceremony outside the Lithuanian presidential palace. A military band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the Lithuania national anthem, and the leaders inspected an honor guard – part of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Staff Battalion – as they walked along a red carpet together.

Inside, Biden sat at a small table and signed a guest book, then smiled for a photo with Nauseda in front of both countries’ flags. 

Asked by a reporter whether he was surprised that Turkey agreed to Sweden’s accession, Biden said, “Not at all.”

Read more:

Participants of the NATO Summit including from left front row, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. President Joe Biden, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, second row, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, third row, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa pose for an official family photo in Vilnius, Lithuania, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)

Related article Biden and NATO leaders enter summit with a show of force as Turkey agrees to Sweden's membership | CNN Politics

Russia targeted grain facilities in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa overnight with Shahed attack drones, according to Ukrainian military officials.

The officials claimed almost all the drones were shot down, but two succeeded in evading air defenses and struck administrative buildings at the port.

Debris from successful interceptions caused fires in two terminals, including one holding grain, officials said, but damage from the fires was minimal before they were extinguished.

Odesa is Ukraine’s largest port and the starting point for grain shipments through the Black Sea and on to world markets.

The passage of ships carrying Ukrainian grain has been governed by a deal involving Russia, Ukraine and Turkey since July last year. The arrangement is currently due to expire next week and Russian officials have expressed reluctance to extend it.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg speaks to the press, on the eve of a NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 10.

Speaking ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania, the bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday he is “confident it will be a positive and strong message” on Ukraine’s path to membership.

When asked whether NATO will issue an invitation to Ukraine, Stoltenberg replied, “You will see the language in a few hours because we are now finalizing the communique.”

Next steps: On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said NATO has agreed to let Ukraine bypass the Membership Action Plan (MAP), a detailed formal process in its application to join the alliance.

Participation in the MAP does not prejudge any decision by the alliance on future membership, but can be a lengthy process.

“Ukraine is much closer to NATO, so I think the time has come to reflect that in the NATO decisions,” Stoltenberg said.

US President Joe Biden and NATO allies will “send a united, positive signal” on a path to NATO membership for Ukraine at the summit, the White House said earlier, but declined to provide a specific timetable for Kyiv’s accession. 

Ukrainian soldiers prepare a Croatian RAK-SA-12 128mm multiple rocket launcher on the frontline near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on July 10.

The Ukrainian military said Tuesday its forces had launched an offensive in Bakhmut, and were “entrenching themselves” and “inflicting artillery fire on the identified enemy targets.”

Troops conducted offensive operations “at the Melitopol, Berdiansk and Bakhmut directions,” according to the Ukraine Defense Force in a Telegram statement.

“The enemy is resisting strongly, moving units and troops, actively using reserves,” the statement added.

Battle for Bakhmut: Earlier this year, Russia’s Wagner fighters took control of Bakhmut after a 10-month battle that cost thousands of lives, according to accounts by both sides. But Wagner was withdrawn from the front line to the rear in May — and since then, Ukrainian forces have been trying to take back the ruined town by encircling Russian troops from the north and south.

The Ukrainian military added that its defenders, under heavy enemy fire, had successfully repelled Russian attacks in the vicinity of Hryhorivka, a town west of Bakhmut.

On Monday, Russian forces launched 48 airstrikes and 60 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) attacks that caused civilian casualties and infrastructure damage, according to Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces. It added that there were 30 combat engagements on Monday.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 7.

US President Joe Biden and NATO allies will “send a united, positive signal” on a path to NATO membership for Ukraine at the Vilnius summit, the White House said, but declined to provide a specific timetable for accession. 

Allies will “discuss Ukraine’s path to future membership in NATO,” during the summit in the Lithuanian capital, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday, as he sought to temper expectations.

“But allies will send a united, positive signal on Ukraine’s path to future member membership in the alliance,” Sullivan said. 

Still, Sullivan declined to predict a specific date for Ukraine joining the alliance during Tuesday’s briefing with reporters.

Leaders in Vilnius, he said, “are continuing to discuss this morning the precise nature of process with respect to Ukraine’s pathway,” which will be released as part of a communique Wednesday.

In an interview with CNN previewing the NATO summit last week, Biden acknowledged he didn’t believe there was “unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” noting that NATO’s Article 5 would necessitate NATO allies defend Ukraine against Russia’s military invasion. 

Biden is set to meet Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lithuania, where the two leaders will “discuss how the US — alongside our allies and partners — are prepared to make long-term commitments to help Ukraine defend itself now and to deter future aggression,” Sullivan said.

A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft prepares for a test flight in Balikesir, Turkey, on May 22, 2022.

US President Joe Biden supports the sale of US-made F-16 fighter jets to NATO ally Turkey without “caveats or conditions,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday ahead of the alliance’s summit in Lithuania.

The announcement Monday by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that Turkey has agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance represents a major win for Biden, who had consistently expressed confidence that Stockholm would join the alliance at the Vilnius summit, despite Turkish opposition.

In an interview with CNN leading up to the NATO summit, Biden reiterated his support for the sale of F-16s to Ankara, but hinted it was part of a larger objective to strengthen NATO’s military capacity.

Sullivan said Tuesday that the administration has been in touch with Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has called for a block on F-16 sales to Turkey over concerns Ankara could use the planes to intimidate fellow NATO member Greece.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, center, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, left and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson attend a meeting, on the eve of a NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 10.

The White House on Tuesday heralded Turkey’s decision to lift its block on Sweden’s NATO accession, pointing to momentum heading into the bloc’s summit this week.

“We’re coming into this consequential summit with a full head of steam,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Vilnius, Lithuania ahead of the meeting’s start.

Turkey withdrawing its objection to Sweden’s inclusion reinforces NATO’s united front ahead of the summit, Sullivan said.

Finland and Sweden both began applications to join NATO shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, with Finland officially becoming the bloc’s 31st member in April this year.

It marked a major shift in the security landscape in northeastern Europe, adding some 1,300 kilometers (830 miles) to the alliance’s frontier with Russia.

But Turkey has stood in the path of Sweden joining NATO for more than a year over a multitude of concerns — until now.

“Soon, we will be able to say that since this war began, we’ll have welcomed two new members of NATO with strong militaries, expanding both the size and the strength of the alliance,” Sullivan said. “And it is a particularly strong signal the two historically non-aligned countries have chosen at this moment in history to join the NATO alliance.”

Three people were injured after Russian forces bombarded the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson with sustained shelling over the past day, a Ukrainian military official said.

In a Telegram post Tuesday, head of the Kherson region military administration Oleksandr Prokudin said the attacks included strikes on residential areas.

US President Joe Biden leaves Downing Street in London, UK, on July 10.

President Joe Biden and alliance leaders enter the first day of the high-stakes NATO Summit Tuesday with a reinvigorated sense of unity after a major win on Monday evening when Turkey agreed to Sweden’s bid to join the alliance.

The leaders gather here in Vilnius, Lithuania, for a two-day summit that could become one of the most consequential gatherings for the alliance in modern history, coming about a month into Ukraine’s slow counteroffensive and weeks after a failed mutiny in Russia became a major threat to President Vladimir Putin’s leadership.

While national security experts had warned that a failure to admit Sweden to NATO could portend cracks in the alliance, Monday evening’s announcement — which came just hours after Biden landed in the Lithuanian capital city — marks a stunning about-face from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has blocked the accession bid for more than a year.

Biden and other members have touted unprecedented unity among the alliance in the face of Russia’s war, and the move also provides leaders a significant show of force going into the summit.

The Swedes will not join the alliance right away — it will take a parliamentary procedure in Turkey to formally approve their membership and Hungary must also drop their objections, which it is expected to do now that Erdoğan is on board.

Biden called for “swift ratification” in a statement following the news.

There will be other critical matters for the US president to address in Vilnius this week, including his controversial decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine — which are banned by more than 100 nations, including some key US allies. There are also questions for leaders about a pathway for Ukraine to eventually join NATO, and the possibility of additional security assistance, with President Volodymyr Zelensky expected to attend in person on Wednesday and hold an in-person meeting with Biden.

Read more here.

A cartoon Shiba Inu, wearing the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine's flag, pops up behind Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in a video she shared on Twitter.

It looked like a normal tweet by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, posted days before NATO’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. But instead of referring to the military alliance’s acronym, she congratulated the “fellas” on their “first-ever NAFO summit.”

At the end of her short video greeting, a cartoon-like dog, wearing the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine’s flag, pops up behind the Estonian leader.

Kallas was not joking.

“NAFO” stands for the North Atlantic Fellas Organization and is a decentralized online volunteer organization that is waging its own social media war against Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. Over the weekend, the group held its own summit in Lithuania’s capital, which was opened by the country’s foreign minister.

NAFO’s volunteer “troops” use tongue-in-cheek memes to mock, troll and discredit Russia’s war. Their battlegrounds are primarily Twitter and Telegram, where they have garnered a sizable fan-base among Ukraine supporters and captured the attention of global leaders.

These volunteers, also known as “fellas,” can be identified by their online avatars or profile pictures, typically a cartoon Shiba Inu (a Japanese hunting dog that became a popular internet meme in 2013) dressed in Ukrainian military gear.

Read the full analysis here.

Taiwanese military fire a US-made Stinger missile during a live-fire military exercise in Pingtung County, Taiwan, on July 4.

The Taiwanese military will “reference experiences” in Ukraine’s defense against Russia in its annual military exercises this year, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

In a news conference, ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said the drills would take lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine by adhering to the principle that “everywhere can be a battlefield.” 

The exercises will simulate the defense of beaches, ports and airports, and test the military’s ability to conduct anti-landing and counteroffensive operations in both rural and urban settings, he said.

The Han Kuang drills will be held around the island July 24-28 and are aimed at countering China’s military aggression, the ministry said in a statement.

Some context: Concern has grown in the United States and across the region over China’s increasing assertiveness, especially regarding its disputed territorial claims. These concerns have sharpened over the past year, as Beijing twice staged extensive military drills around the island of Taiwan and refused to condemn Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

That invasion has also drawn increased attention to Taiwan as a potential security flashpoint in Asia.

China’s ruling Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy as its own, despite never having controlled it, and has vowed to unify the island with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Australia will send a military surveillance aircraft to Europe to help Ukraine that will operate outside the war-torn country’s borders, the Australian Prime Minister’s office said in a statement Monday.

The Royal Australian Air Force will deploy an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to Germany in October, where it will stay for six months to help “protect a vital gateway of international humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine,” the statement said.

The mission includes up to 100 crew and support personnel.

The E-7A Wedgetail specializes in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to the Air Force’s website. The aircraft combines “long-range surveillance radar, secondary radar and tactical/strategic voice and data communications systems to provide an airborne early warning and control platform,” it says.

The deployment will “integrate with the efforts of our partners, including the United States, and support the multi-layered protections in place for assistance into Ukraine,” the statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen in Vilnius city center, on the eve of the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 10.

As NATO leaders prepare for a key summit in Lithuania on Tuesday, Turkey has agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join the defense alliance, its chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.

Hours earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said Brussels should clear the path for Ankara’s EU accession before it approved Sweden’s bid.

Catch up on other key headlines:

Air raid sirens sounded in Kyiv early Tuesday as Ukrainian air defenses repelled a Russian drone attack on the capital, a senior military official said.

In a Telegram post, Kyiv city military chief Serhiy Popko said all drones launched by Russia were destroyed in what was the second such attack on the capital this month.

Air raid warnings for Kyiv and the surrounding region have been lifted, Popko added. 

Amid the raging war and constant threat of Russian missiles, a successful heart transplant has been performed on a 6-year-old girl in Kyiv, authorities with the Heart Institute of Ukraine’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday.

The three-hour operation, which took place on Sunday evening, gave the girl the heart of a 4-year-old boy, whom doctors had declared brain dead after suffering an aneurysm.

It was the first time a heart transplant had been performed in Ukraine on children so young, the institute said.

The transplant was performed by a team of doctors led by Dr. Boris Todurov, the chief scientist of the department of surgical and minimally invasive treatment.

“The operation went smoothly, the girl was extubated two hours after the operation,” Todurov said in a post on his official Facebook page.

The Heart Institute released images from the operation showing the mother of the boy whose heart was donated standing by the girl’s bedside.

“The operation went well, and the new heart is beating in the girl’s chest,” Oksana Dmytrieva, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s subcommittee on modern medical technologies and transplantation development, said in an emotional post on Facebook.

Read the full story here.

More than 1,000 major companies pledged to leave Russia after Vladimir Putin launched his devastating war in Ukraine, but some well-known firms stand accused by researchers of violating their pledge.

Not every company on the list left, but more than 1,000 exited. That unprecedented corporate exodus, championed and chronicled by Yale professor Jeff Sonnenfeld, dealt a serious financial and symbolic blow to Moscow and the Russian economy.

Now, as Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine blows past the 500-day mark, Sonnenfeld and his team are naming and shaming a slew of companies they accuse of breaking their promises to leave or at least drastically scale back their presence in Russia, including well-known companies like Heineken, Unilever, Philip Morris and Oreo maker Mondelez.

The Yale research, shared exclusively with CNN, is based on whistleblowers, on-the-ground experts, students operating inside Russia, corporate documents and news media reports.

Sonnenfeld, who has testified before Congress about companies leaving Russia, is not accusing these corporations of breaking the law. Instead, he argues that by staying in Russia, they are breaking a moral code and simultaneously “self-immolating their own brands.”

Read the full story here.

Rescue workers at a damaged building after a drone strike in Sumy, Ukraine, on July 3.

Residents of Ukraine’s northern Sumy region will not be forced to evacuate amid increased Russian shelling, a Ukrainian military official said Monday.

Artiukh cautioned those who wish to remain.

“People should just be aware that if they stay in the ‘death zone,’ which is the only way to describe this area, they are taking responsibility for their lives,” he said. 

Earlier, the regional military administration said it would order the evacuation of areas near the Russian border.

Turkey is turning into an “unfriendly country” after a series of “provocative decisions,” a Russian defense official told Russian state media Monday.

The series of “provocative decisions” came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Turkey on Friday, he said, pointing to Ankara endorsing Ukraine’s NATO bid and releasing Azovstal leaders, despite an agreement about them staying in Turkey until the end of the war. 

Zelensky said Saturday that five men, part of the Azovstal defense that defended Mariupol following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, would return to Ukraine from Turkey. The five Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered following the fall of the southeastern city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on July 7.

After their release from Russian captivity, the men were taken to Turkey in September as part of a prisoner swap. They were obliged to stay in Turkey until the end of the war, according to the terms of the deal.

Bondarev also claimed the only reason NATO needs Turkey is “to control the Black Sea straits and stabilize or destabilize the Middle East region,” and that Turkey should think about “leaving NATO and creating an alliance with Russia.” 

US President Joe Biden waves as he disembarks from Air Force One, upon his arrial at Vilnius International Airport in Lithuania on July 10, 2023 for the NATO summit.

President Joe Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit on Wednesday, an official familiar with the meeting has confirmed.

The meeting will mark a sign of unity as Zelensky’s attendance at the summit had been in question. Russia’s war in Ukraine is among the top agenda items for NATO leaders along with discussing a future pathway for the war-torn country to join the alliance, which has prompted some division among leaders.

Politico was first to report the meeting.

Ukraine is set to dominate the summit’s agenda as the US president looks to keep the group united behind Zelensky in the face of Russia’s invasion. The alliance is facing questions about a potential path to NATO membership for Ukraine, as well as additional military assistance as its counteroffensive continues.

Biden poured cold water on the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO as the war is ongoing and cited reforms the country would still need to make to join the alliance.

Zelensky had previously said he does not plan on attending the summit “for fun” as he seeks a clearer pathway for his country to join the alliance along with security guarantees.

Read more here.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Turkey has agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance — a major development on the eve of the NATO summit.

The announcement represents a stunning about-face from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had earlier on Monday suggested Sweden could only join the alliance after his country is accepted into the European Union. Erdoğan has stood in the path of Sweden joining NATO for more than a year over a multitude of concerns.

Erdoğan dropping his opposition marks a major step forward, but does not mean that Sweden will immediately become the next member of the alliance. Stoltenberg did not offer a specific timeline for when Erdoğan would move the document forward to the Turkish Parliament, which must then vote to approve it. Hungary also has not voted to approve Sweden’s membership, though Stoltenberg said Monday that Hungary had made clear that it would not be the last to ratify Sweden’s bid.

Asked by a reporter when Sweden can be expected to officially become a NATO member, Stoltenberg was unwilling to commit to an answer, saying that it was up to Turkey to make an announcement and preferred to focus on the merits of a “historic day”.

Read more here.

NATO has agreed to let Ukraine bypass a detailed formal process in its application to join the defense alliance, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Monday

The Membership Action Plan (MAP) is a NATO program of assistance and practical support for countries wishing to join the US-led alliance. Participation in the MAP does not prejudge any decision by the alliance on future membership, but can be a lengthy process.