NATO leaders arrive at the Summit in Vilnius

US President Joe Biden flew to Lithuania, where the Summit of NATO member countries will be held on July 11–12. Also at the airport of Vilnius lands and other heads of states of the North Atlantic Union land.

The main theme of the summit will be the continuation of the military and humanitarian support of Ukraine and the prospects for its entry into the organization.

In addition, one of the important issues will be the entry into NATO Sweden. Earlier, a neutral country announced the desire to join NATO shortly after the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden entry into the Union is blocked by Türkiye and Hungary. Ankara says that Stockholm does not fulfill its international duties, since it gives political asylum to the Kurdish opposition, whom Türkiye considers terrorists and requires them to be issued. In addition, street actions are held in Sweden, according to Ankara, offensive to Muslims.

Speaking before a trip to the summit in Vilnius, Erdogan said that Ankara would not give up his demands. In addition, he said, the European Union must open the road to Turkey to enter it before the Turkish parliament approves the Swedish application.

According to Reuters, NATO countries on Monday, before the official beginning of the summit, came to an agreement on a possible military response to a hypothetical attack from Russia. Similar plans were agreed for the first time since the end of the Cold War between the USSR and the West.

According to Reuters, Türkiye blocked the adoption of such plans, explaining this by the formulation of the geographical binding of places, such as Cyprus, with which Ankara has territorial disputes. One of the diplomats in a conversation with the agency specified that Turkey had to compromise to cancel the binding.

Their plans of NATO countries also include an increase in military budgets, building weapons and supporting stronger members of the Union of weaker countries.

According to NATO leaders, each participating country should increase its military budget to at least 2% of GDP. As noted in the organization, the implementation of this plan can take several years. At the same time, they emphasize, the entire North Atlantic Union should be ready for an immediate response to possible aggression.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the Bloomberg agency, will come to the Summit on Wednesday, July 12.