Russia has continued a nearly 19-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Recently, though, the Ukrainians have gone on a counteroffensive, fighting to reclaim occupied territory.
Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Jul 11, 2023, 4:50 PM EDT
Russian minister responds to Finland, Sweden joining NATO
Russia will take “early and adequate measures” in connection with Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday after the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Lavrov told reporters that he is convinced that "the speed with which this happened, of course, forces us to look for the reason in the complete subordinate position in which these countries have placed the United States and the rest of the collective West,” according to the Russian news agency Interfax.
-ABC News' Natalia Shumskaia and Ellie Kaufman
Jul 11, 2023, 11:53 AM EDT
Ukraine will get invite to join NATO 'when all the allies agree,' secretary general says
Ukraine will get an invitation to join NATO when all the allies agree and all the conditions are met, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference from the NATO summit in Vilinus, Lithuania, on Tuesday.
NATO agreed to remove the required membership action plan, he added, which makes the process take only one step instead of two.
A NATO-Ukraine Council will also be launched, Stoltenberg announced. The first session is planned for Wednesday with participation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said.
Zelenskyy had criticized the process for joining NATO ahead of his trip to Lithuania, saying, "It’s unprecedented and absurd when timeframe is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership."
-ABC News' Fidel Pavlenko
Jul 11, 2023, 7:41 AM EDT
Zelenskyy pushes for NATO membership invite ahead of summit
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called on Tuesday for NATO to invite Ukraine to become a member, offering a strongly worded statement as the coalition leaders gathered for a summit in Lithuania.
Ukraine "deserves respect," Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on Twitter.
NATO PHOTO: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak and other NATO leaders, in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 11, 2023.
Yves Herman/Reuters
"It's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership," he said. "While at the same time vague wording about 'conditions' is added even for inviting Ukraine. It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance."
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, President Joe Biden, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, British Prime Minster Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, other NATO leaders and other officials stand for a family photo, ahead of a NATO leaders summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania July 11, 2023.
Yves Herman/Reuters
Keeping Ukraine out of NATO amounts to a "motivation" for Russia to "continue its terror," he said.
"Uncertainty is weakness," he added.
Russia rebutted the statement a short while later.
"This is potentially very dangerous for European security. Indeed, it is fraught with great dangers, and those who will make this decision should be aware of that," Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said when asked to comment on Ukraine's possible fast-track admission to the coalition.
Jul 10, 2023, 5:17 PM EDT
Biden to meet with Zelenskyy at NATO summit
President Joe Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania this week, an administration official told ABC News.
The meeting comes as Zelenskyy pushes for a spot in NATO, despite Biden's public comments this weekend that he doesn't think that's the right move at this moment.
Biden has instead suggested a relationship similar to Israel and the U.S., with strong security commitments.