Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor

What is Moscow making of the Nato summit?

To start, no time frame for Ukraine to join Nato suits the Kremlin just fine. In fact, Russian state television has been gloating about this today, claiming that the summit has been a total failure for Kyiv.

However, the idea of the G7's long-term security guarantees for Ukraine haven't gone down well in Moscow.

We've heard from Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesperson, who said it would be a mistake and potentially very dangerous for any country to offer security guarantees to Ukraine.

He called Nato, the defensive alliance, an "offensive alliance" that brings instability and aggression. Remember, it wasn't Nato that launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year - that was Russia.

But if you read the pro-Kremlin newspapers today, they push the official line that the threat to world peace emanates not from Russia, but from Nato.

The front page of government paper Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russian Gazette) says that Nato is anti-Russian and on the war path. That fits in with the Kremlin narrative that Russia is a besieged fortress surrounded by enemies who are trying to destroy her.

Image source, Reuters

A short while ago, G7 leaders and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine posed on stage at the Vilnius Nato summit for a family photo.

They were also joined by EU leaders - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, president of the European Council.

Bloomberg asks Sunak if Ukraine will receive Nato membership within a year of ceasefire with Russia.

Sunak describes this Nato summit as a "very significant moment" on Ukraine's path towards membership and says it will happen when conditions are met.

He adds: "It is very clear from this summit people's view is Ukraine will and should be a member of Nato."

The BBC asks Sunak if Ukraine has shown enough gratitude to its allies, following comments by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

Sunak says Zelensky has expressed gratitude on a number of occasions. "I know he and his people are incredibly grateful," he says.

He adds he understands Zelensky's desire to do everything he can to stop the war.

We're just hearing from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a press briefing.

He describes the summit as “landmark” and said it leaves Nato “more confident than ever”.

He explains they’ve strengthened the alliance scaling up defence production and spending.

Sunak highlights the war in Ukraine has reached 500 days of "barbarity" but the summit this week has taken a "big step" in its support for Ukraine entering Nato.

He continues that the UK has led the way in helping Ukraine, and announces more ammunition, 70 more combat vehicles and a new rehabilitation centre for injured Ukrainian soldiers.

Sunak adds pilot training for Ukrainians would start next month.

Image source, Reuters

Wallace is the UK Defence Secretary - meaning he is the senior member of government responsible for the military.

Before entering politics, he was an officer in the Army, and served in Northern Ireland, Germany, Cyprus and Central America.

He was mentioned in dispatches, external (i.e. commended by a senior officer) in 1992.

He first entered politics as a Member of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, before being elected to the UK Parliament in 2005.

Following on from President Biden, the Ukrainian leader thanked G7 leaders and Nato members for committing to "security guarantees for Ukraine on our way to Nato" - referencing Kyiv's key demand to join the alliance (which has thus far not been met).

Zelensky mentioned "bilateral and multilateral" arrangements, implying that states had also made individual security commitments to Kyiv.

The security package from the G7 leaders to Ukraine includes modern advanced equipment, training and collaboration on cyberdefence. It is meant to help Ukraine win the war against Russia, and to secure its long-term security against future aggression.

Image source, Getty

US President Joe Biden just spoke on stage at the end of the Nato summit in Lithuania after meeting Ukrainian President Zelensky and other G7 country world leaders.

Biden pledged that the G7 will help Ukraine build "defense across land, air and sea" with modern, advanced military equipment.

“All our allies agreed: Ukraine’s future lies in Nato,” said Biden. “We’re making clear our support will last long and into the future."

He then introduced Zelensky to give short remarks before the traditional "family photo" to conclude the summit.

More now on the latest comments from UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.

In his briefing with reporters, he said that Ukraine had to remember it was asking countries to give up their own stocks of weapons.

“There is a slight word of caution which is, whether we like it or not, people want to see gratitude,” he said. “My counsel to the Ukrainians is sometimes, look, you are persuading countries to give up their own stocks.

"And yes, the war is a noble war and yes, we see it as you doing a war not just for yourselves but also our freedoms. But sometimes you have got to persuade lawmakers on the Hill in America [US Congress].

"You have got to persuade doubting politicians in other countries that it is worth it, it’s worthwhile and they are getting something for it. That’s just the reality of it.”

He said there would sometimes be "grumbles" from US lawmakers, but he insisted that Ukraine would join Nato.

“The win here for Ukraine is the sort of cultural acceptance that Ukraine belongs in Nato.

"You have heard the [UK] prime minister say Ukraine belongs in Nato and the word 'belongs' implies it's fate, implies it’s going to happen.”

Image source, Reuters

As Zelensky asks Nato countries for more support for Ukraine at the Vilnius summit, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has urged Kyiv to show more "gratitude" for the millions of dollars worth of weapons systems they are receiving from western states.

Speaking to journalists at the Nato summit, Wallace recalls receiving a fresh list of military requests from Ukrainian officials last year, and responded by saying "we're not Amazon".

But he said that the fight was a "noble war", with Ukraine fighting "for our freedoms".

Wallace's comments come after the Ukrainian president had expressed his frustration for not receiving a timeline for Ukraine to join the alliance at the Nato summit. Zelensky did, however, receive several more security guarantees, and thanked several nations for their renewed commitment to Kyiv's war effort.

Image source, Reuters

Just joining us or need a re-cap? Here's the latest from the Nato conference:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier held a news conference alongside Nato boss Jens Stoltenberg
• Zelensky said Nato has given a powerful signal to Russia that Ukraine will be an independent state
• He praised the results of the summit, but said Ukraine receiving an invitation to join Nato - which is not yet formally on the table - would have been the ideal outcome
• He said he understood that some people are afraid to talk about Ukraine's membership of Nato because "nobody is willing to have a world war"
• Zelensky's tone marked a change of tone from Tuesday, when he said it was "unprecedented and absurd" that Ukraine didn't have more detail on when it could become a Nato member
• Stoltenberg said Ukraine is "closer to Nato than ever before"
• He added that Nato "can never allow that Moscow starts to decide who can and cannot be a member"
• US President Joe Biden is due to meet Zelensky this afternoon

Ukraine is the main focus of this Nato conference.

Nato boss Jens Stoltenberg says Ukraine is "closer to Nato than ever before" but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised what he sees as delays in setting out Ukraine's membership timeline.

The BBC has spoken to people in the streets of Kyiv to get their thoughts.

"I think Ukraine is not ready to become a Nato member yet, there are no grounds for this - there is a lot of corruption within the authorities. We are doing something about it but not a lot. The main thing is that we are given weaponry. When we win, we will be in Nato" - Andriy, serviceman

"I can’t say they [Nato] are bad but I can say they have shown so much support for us. So it’s okay, because we have the war and if they had not helped us, I think the situation in our country would be much worse than now" - Viktoria

"[Ukraine’s membership in Nato] is the only protection from Russia, otherwise they will never leave us alone" - Adel Vasylivna, pensioner

Important meetings are happening behind closed doors at the summit today, but putting on a jovial public face is key at events like these.

Diplomacy is everything here, so we've seen a lot of handshakes, smiles and hugs.

Here's what some of world's leaders have been getting up to so far.

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Officials at the summit have said that a group of 11 nations are going to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly US-made F-16 fighter jets in Romania in August.

Ukraine has been asking countries to supply jets for a while to help with its summer counteroffensive, and in May the US gave the go-ahead to its Western allies to send more advanced jets.

This includes the long sought-after F-16s - a significant upgrade on the Soviet-era planes it is currently using.

But, training pilots to fly and operate these Western jets will take time. Experts have also raised issues around maintaining them, and whether certain jets sent will be appropriate for Ukraine's fighting needs.

Alongside the jets, the UK has also announced plans to deliver more than 70 combat and logistics vehicles to Ukraine, aimed at boosting its counteroffensive operation.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, reuters

Ukraine's potential membership of Nato is the key topic at this summit.

The alliance said in 2008 that Ukraine could join at a future date, but recently declined its request for "fast-track" membership.

The sticking point comes in article 5 of Nato's charter, which says that if one member is attacked, all others should come to its defence.

Were Ukraine to join now, Nato countries would technically have to declare war on Russia.

Kyiv has conceded it can't join during the conflict, but wants to join as soon as possible afterwards.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

The Nato-Ukraine Council, which was due to meet today, is a newly-established body meant to upgrade relations between Kyiv and the transatlantic military alliance.

It is a platform where Ukraine and Nato can make decisions as "equals", according to the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg, as opposed to individual allies meeting a partner.

The formation of the council is part of the multi-year package designed to draw Ukraine closer to the alliance, and reaffirms that "Ukraine will become a member of Nato", according to Stoltenberg - although it remains unclear when.

And crucially, the Council cannot be blocked by individual allies or members.

Listen to Stoltenberg's remarks about the Nato-Ukraine Council here, external.

Image source, Reuters

US President Joe Biden will be "straightforward and candid" with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when they meet this afternoon, the White House says.

The pair will discuss the rationale for Nato's decision to not give a clear timeline for Ukraine to join Nato.

Zelensky has criticised Nato for what he sees as delays in setting out Ukraine's membership timeline - calling it "unprecedented and absurd" on Tuesday.

Biden "knows that President Zelensky has strong views and isn't afraid to express those views," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview with MSNBC.

"And he, President Biden, also is very straightforward and honest and candid with president Zelensky. That will be the character of the meeting they have."

Image source, Getty Images

The Kremlin says it will respond if Ukraine uses cluster bombs against its troops after the US controversially agreed to deliver them to Kyiv.

Cluster munitions are banned by more than 120 countries - including many Western allies such as the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Spain.

But neither the US, Russia nor Ukraine are signatory to the international convention banning the use of cluster munitions.

"The potential use of this type of munitions changes the situation, and of course it would force Russia to take countermeasures," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Ukraine and its allies say Russia is already using cluster bombs, but Moscow denies this.

Cluster munitions typically release lots of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area.

The munitions have also caused controversy over their failure - or dud - rate. Unexploded bomblets can linger on the ground for years and then indiscriminately detonate.

The speaker of the Lithuanian parliament says her country - which is hosting the Nato summit - wanted a stronger commitment to Ukraine than has been achieved.

Ukraine's President Zelensky has criticised Nato for what he sees as delays in setting out Ukraine's membership timeline.

Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen told the BBC she shared some of Zelensky's frustrations.

"I think it's fair to say we hoped for more, we hoped for a stronger phrasing, for a strong commitment," she said.

"But of course we understand the decisions are taken on the basis of compromise and that the unity of Nato countries ... is paramount."

She added that support for Ukraine is "still really considerable".