MADRID: The United States vowed Wednesday to reinforce Europe鈥檚 defenses in the wake of Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, as NATO declared Moscow the West鈥檚 greatest threat 鈥� prompting Vladimir Putin to lash out at the alliance鈥檚 鈥渋mperial ambitions.鈥�
Meeting in Madrid, NATO leaders said Russia 鈥渋s the most significant and direct threat to allies鈥� security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.鈥�
This came as NATO welcomed Sweden and Finland as invitees to join the alliance, and US President Joe Biden announced new deployments of US troops, ships and planes.
Biden boasted that the US move was exactly what Putin 鈥渄idn鈥檛 want鈥� 鈥� and Moscow, facing fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces equipped with Western arms, reacted with predictable fury.
Putin accused the alliance of seeking to assert its 鈥渟upremacy,鈥� telling journalists in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat that Ukraine and its people are 鈥渁 means鈥� for NATO to 鈥渄efend their own interests.鈥�
鈥淭he NATO countries鈥� leaders wish to... assert their supremacy, their imperial ambitions,鈥� the Russian president added.

NATO leaders have funnelled billions of dollars of arms to Ukraine and faced a renewed appeal from President Volodymyr Zelensky for more long-range artillery.
鈥淯kraine can count on us for as long as it takes,鈥� NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said, announcing a new NATO strategic overview that focuses on the Moscow threat.
The document, updated for the first time since 2010, warned that the alliance 鈥渃annot discount the possibility鈥� of an attack on its members.
鈥淭oday in Madrid, NATO proved it can take difficult but essential decisions. We welcome a clear-eyed stance on Russia, as well as the accession for Finland and Sweden,鈥� Ukraine鈥檚 foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Sweden and Finland, which abandoned decades of military non-alignment in response to the invasion to seek NATO membership, were officially invited in Wednesday.
Putin dismissed the move as 鈥渘o problem.鈥�
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have problems with Sweden and Finland like we do with Ukraine ... They can join whatever they want,鈥� he said in Ashgabat.
In Ukraine, officials said that Russian missiles had hit civilian housing and businesses in and around the cities of Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv, leaving at least seven dead and 14 wounded.
The Russian defense ministry said the Kharkiv attack had hit Ukrainian command centers and a training base for foreign 鈥渕ercenaries.鈥�
And it said it had inflicted severe casualties on Ukrainian troops defending the town of Lysychansk in Lugansk, one of the two provinces that make up the large eastern Donbas region.
The frequency of the shelling there is 鈥渆normous,鈥� the regional governor of Lugansk, Sergiy Gaiday, said in televised comments Wednesday, adding that the evacuation of some 15,000 civilians still in the city 鈥渕ight be dangerous at the moment.鈥�
Lugansk and Donetsk, also in the Donbas, are breakaway states that have escaped Kyiv鈥檚 control since 2014.
Moscow recognized their independence in February 鈥� and on Wednesday Russia鈥檚 ally Syria became the only other nation to do so.
The move prompted Zelensky to immediately break off ties with Damascus. 鈥淭here will no longer be relations between Ukraine and Syria,鈥� he said in a video posted on Telegram.
In Kremenchuk, the town where a Russian missile on Monday destroyed a shopping center and killed at least 18 civilians, clearing operations continued.
A giant crane was working near the site of impact, and in the rubble-strewn parking area shopping trolleys piled with clothes and household goods lay abandoned.
Western leaders have dubbed the Kremenchuk strike a war crime. Russia says it hit a depot storing Western arms, and Putin on Wednesday denied Moscow鈥檚 forces were responsible for the strike on the shopping center.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said that 144 of their soldiers, most of them former defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in the southern port city of Mariupol, had been freed in a prisoner swap with Moscow.Moscow鈥檚 invasion triggered massive economic sanctions and a wave of support for Zelensky鈥檚 government, including deliveries of advanced weapons, as well as the reinforcement of Europe鈥檚 defenses.
Washington has announced that it will shift the headquarters of its 5th Army Corps to Poland.
An army brigade will rotate in and out of Romania, two squadrons of F-35 fighters will deploy to Britain, US air defense systems will be sent to Germany and Italy, and the fleet of US Navy destroyers in Spain will grow from four to six.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly what he didn鈥檛 want but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe,鈥� Biden said, of Putin鈥檚 efforts to roll back Western influence and re-establish influence or control over territories of the former Russian empire.
Britain also pledged another $1.2 billion in military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday, including air defense systems and drones.
And Norway said it would donate three multiple-launch rocket systems to Ukraine, following similar decisions made by Britain, Germany and the United States.
Meanwhile, Indonesian President Joko Widodo became the first Asian leader to visit Kyiv since Russia invaded on February 24.
Zelensky said he had accepted an invitation to attend the upcoming G20 summit in Bali, depending 鈥渙n the security situation鈥� 鈥� and on the guest list.
It is not clear whether Putin will be invited in November, with some capitals pushing for his exclusion.