Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missile strikes hit multiple Ukrainian cities
Dozens of injuries were reported in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
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.
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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
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.
"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."
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.
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.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett and Molly Nagle
Turkey agrees to advance Sweden's bid to join NATO
Turkey and Sweden have reached a deal to advance the latter country's bid to join NATO, according to NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg.
"This is an historic step which makes all #NATO Allies stronger & safer," Stoltenberg tweeted along with a photo of him and the two leaders shaking hands.
Turkey and Sweden have agreed to work on "legitimate security concerns," according to NATO.
Sweden has resumed arms exports with Turkey and "will present a roadmap as the basis of its continued fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," according to NATO.
The two countries agreed to set up economic cooperation through the Türkiye-Sweden Joint Economic and Trade Committee, NATO said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Kremlin denies role in plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin
Russia on Friday vehemently denied having any involvement in the mysterious plane crash that is believed to have killed Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"There has been a lot of speculation around this crash [and] the tragic deaths of the plane's passengers, among them Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, the West presents all this speculation from a particular angle. All of that is sheer lies," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters while answering questions during a press briefing. "One should rely on facts. For now, there are not many facts, they have yet to be established in the ongoing investigative procedures."
Prigozhin, 62, was a former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His private paramilitary organization played a key role in Putin's invasion of neighboring Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow before turning back after several days.
A private jet was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday when it went down near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia's Tver region, north of Moscow. All 10 people on board were killed. Prigozhin and Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin were among the passengers identified on a flight list, according to Russian officials.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday that Prigozhin was "likely" killed in the plane crash.