Russia-Ukraine war live: ‘absurd’ if Ukraine is not invited to join Nato, says Zelenskiy
Zelenskiy: 'Absurd' if Ukraine is not offered Nato membership
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said it would be “absurd” if Ukraine was not invited to become a Nato member and that uncertainty over its membership was motivation for Russia to “continue its terror”.
Zelenskiy tweeted: “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.
“But Ukraine also deserves respect. Now, on the way to Vilnius, we received signals that certain wording is being discussed without Ukraine.
“And I would like to emphasise that this wording is about the invitation to become Nato member, not about Ukraine’s membership.
“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.
“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.
“Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.”
Oleksandra Matviichuk, a human rights lawyer and 2022 Nobel peace prize winner, has issued a statement about Ukraine’s potential membership of Nato. She says:
The beginning of the actual accession of Ukraine to Nato is a way to end the war, not to expand it. Because ‘strategic uncertainty’ will always serve as a reason for Russia to continue attacking Ukraine.
Therefore, people in Ukraine expect concrete results from the summit in Vilnius. The time for assurances that the door to Nato is open has passed. They should be transformed into decisions that allow starting the process of accession of Ukraine to Nato.
Russia has always used wars and occupation of foreign territories as a fait accompli, thereby creating a new reality and forcing the international community to reckon with it. The democratic countries that participate in Nato should finally take the initiative to start managing this process. We have taken security for granted for too long. It is necessary to take responsibility for our common future.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, reports that an air alert has sounded in Sumy and residents have been warned of a missile danger.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Vilnius, Suspilne reports.
Dan Sabbagh, our defence and security editor, has filed from Vilnius this wrap up of events so far at the Nato summit:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Nato leaders of showing disrespect to Ukraine by refusing to offer Kyiv a timetable for when it would be invited to join the military alliance, in a last-ditch effort to win a concession on membership at the start of a two-day summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
The Ukrainian president complained there was “no readiness” to invite Ukraine to join, which gave Russia the opportunity “to continue its terror” by leaving open the possibility to bargain his country’s future membership of Nato in a peace deal.
Nato leaders had been due to agree the summit’s final declaration on Tuesday afternoon and release it in the evening, but Zelenskiy suggested he had seen a leak of the final text, complaining that “certain wording is being discussed without Ukraine”.
Ukraine “deserves respect” Zelenskiy said, and claimed that Nato leaders were going to place extra conditions on the country’s membership, most likely by insisting it undertook anti-corruption and pro democracy reforms.
“It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to Nato, nor to make it a member of the alliance,” the president said in a statement published on social media at lunchtime.
Nato sources said they believed the Ukrainian leader was engaged in last-minute hard-ball public diplomacy, aimed at prompting a rewrite of the final summit declaration or communique before the gathering closes on Wednesday.
Countries in central and eastern Europe have been pressing for firmer commitment to Ukraine’s postwar membership, amid a growing belief that the slow-moving counteroffensive could prompt Kyiv to consider negotiations with Moscow.
Ukraine believes Nato membership is the only viable solution to prevent it becoming a victim of future attacks by Russia, but the US and other alliance members fear that allowing Ukraine to join at some future point could be interpreted by Moscow as escalatory.
Here are some pictures from the first day of the Nato summit in Lithuania.
Air raids heard in Kyiv after Russian war-planes detected taking off
Air raids sounded in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, shortly after the Nato summit got under way in Vilnius, after Russian warplanes equipped with hypersonic missiles were detected taking off.
The city authorities sent an all-phone alert at 3pm local time, urging residents to take cover. The alarm was triggered by a MIG-31K leaving Savasleyka airbase in Russia’s western Nizhny Novgorod region.
While such flights happen regularly, the Kremlin has a habit of targeting Kyiv at symbolic moments to make a political and military point.
Air raid sirens were activated in February when Joe Biden made his first trip to Kyiv since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion. The US president and Volodymyr Zelenskiy were at the time leaving St Michael’s golden domed monastery together.
Overnight Ukraine claimed it shot down 26 Russian Shahed drones, launched from a south-east direction. Two got through. The kamikaze drones hit an 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, the city authorities said.
Woman killed by Russian shelling in Kherson
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.
North Korea has condemned the US for its decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, calling it a “criminal act” and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the plan, Reuters reports.
North Korean foreign minister Choe Son Hui said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency: “I, on behalf of the DPRK government, vehemently denounce the US decision to offer WMD (weapons of mass destruction) to Ukraine as a dangerous criminal act to bring a new calamity to the world, and strongly demand the US withdraw the decision immediately.”
“The US has made a very dangerous choice … which brings to light once again its true colours as destroyer of peace regarding aggression and massacre as its national policy and mode of existence,” Choe added.
Reuters reports that France has begun delivering a significant number of SCALP cruise missiles to Ukraine, which will be integrated into non-western warplanes, a French military source said on Tuesday.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said France would start supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine at the Nato summit in Lithuania on Tuesday.
The missiles have a range of 155 miles (250km) – the longest of any western weapon supplied to Ukraine so far.
The Guardian’s defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh has landed in Lithuania where the Nato summit is being held. He travelled on UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s plane.
On the ground at Vilnius airport - Rishi Sunak's Voyager and Air Force One. German, French, Turkish leaders' planes all nearby pic.twitter.com/m9NFeY8nID
— Dan Sabbagh (@dansabbagh) July 11, 2023
The Nato Summit has formally begun. The general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, welcomes the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, to the summit where Finland is attending for the first time “as a full-fledged member”.
He also gives a “warm welcome” to the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, and says he we will be welcoming Sweden as a full-fledged member after Turkey dropped its veto and supported the country’s Nato application.
France will be providing Ukraine with SCALP missiles, AFP reports.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said France would start supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine at the Nato summit in Lithuania on Tuesday.
The UK announced in May that it would supply Ukraine with the same missiles but under the name Storm Shadow.
SCALP/Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French weapon with a range of 155 miles (250km) – the longest of any western weapon supplied to Ukraine so far.
Reuters reports that Russia sees no grounds for peace talks with Ukraine, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian upper house speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, as saying on Tuesday during a visit to China.
Reuters reports that Germany has finalised a €700m military aid package for Ukraine, according to two government sources who told the news agency on Tuesday.
The package reportedly includes 2 patriot launcher missile systems, 40 Marder armoured vehicles and 25 leopard tanks.
Zelenskiy: 'Absurd' if Ukraine is not offered Nato membership
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said it would be “absurd” if Ukraine was not invited to become a Nato member and that uncertainty over its membership was motivation for Russia to “continue its terror”.
Zelenskiy tweeted: “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.
“But Ukraine also deserves respect. Now, on the way to Vilnius, we received signals that certain wording is being discussed without Ukraine.
“And I would like to emphasise that this wording is about the invitation to become Nato member, not about Ukraine’s membership.
“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.
“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.
“Uncertainty is weakness. And I will openly discuss this at the summit.”
We value our allies. We value our shared security. And we always appreciate an open conversation.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 11, 2023
Ukraine will be represented at the NATO summit in Vilnius. Because it is about respect.
But Ukraine also deserves respect. Now, on the way to Vilnius, we received signals that…
Reuters reports that Belarus is waiting for fighters from the Wagner mercenary group to deploy on its territory and plans to exchange combat experience with them when they do, the state news agency Belta cited the Belarusian defence ministry as saying on Tuesday.
Belarus is also waiting for a new batch of regular Russian troops to arrive to take part in joint training with the Belarusian armed forces, the ministry was cited as saying.
Summary of the day so far …
As the Nato summit got underway in Vilnius, secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine has come much closer to Nato, and that should be reflected in all Nato decision-making. He said the wording of the final communique from the summit was being worked upon, and he was confident it would send a positive message on Ukraine’s path to membership.
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, saying 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 road map was set out to the long running frustration of the country’s leaders.
France will start supplying long-range 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, while declining to give further details on how many or the types of missiles.
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.”
Hungary’s foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday that there was no concrete timetable set out for Ukraine’s Nato accession in the proposed closing statement of the summit in Vilnius.
Szijjártó also said Hungary’s ratification of Sweden’s Nato membership is “only a technical issue” now and the government backs Sweden’s bid.
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.
Kremlin criticises French offer of longer-range missiles to Kyiv
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, which Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this morning.
Peskov said it was a mistake by France, and Ukraine will face consequences as Russia will take countermeasures. The unnoficial Kremlin press pool feed quoted Peskov as saying: “These decisions cannot affect the course of events within the special military operation, they can only worsen the fate of the Ukrainian regime.”
“Special military operation” is the Russian authorities preferred term for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.
Peskov went on to say that European leaders do not seem to understand that moving Nato infrastructure towards Russia’s borders is a mistake, and that the western military alliance’s advance into central and eastern Europe had led to the current crisis around Ukraine in the first place.
Addressing the issue of Sweden joining the alliance, Reuters reports 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.
Peskov played down Turkey’s decision to end its opposition to Sweden’s accession to Nato, saying that Ankara has obligations as a member of the alliance and that Moscow had had no illusions on this score.
Peskov said Russia and Turkey had their differences but also shared some common interests, adding that Moscow intended to develop further its relations with Ankara.
Macron announces France will begin supplying long-range missiles to Kyiv
France will start supplying long-range 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,” Reuters reports he told the media on arrival at a Nato summit in Lithuania.
He declined to give further details on how many or the types of missiles.
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