VILNIUS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived Monday in Vilnius for a summit with the leaders of NATO鈥檚 eastern and Nordic members, who are some of Kyiv鈥檚 staunchest backers amid the Russian invasion.
The military alliance has bolstered its eastern defenses since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with Finland and Sweden also overhauling decades of security policy to join the alliance.
The summit brings together the Bucharest Nine 鈥� the alliance鈥檚 members across eastern and central Europe 鈥� with its Nordic members, Zelensky and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Zelensky鈥檚 spokesman said he would hold 鈥渂ilateral meetings鈥� on the sidelines of the summit in the Lithuanian capital.
It comes ahead of a full NATO summit later in June in The Hague to which Zelensky has demanded he be invited to.
鈥淚f Ukraine is not present at the NATO summit, it will be a victory for Putin, but not over Ukraine, but over NATO,鈥� he said last week.
Zelensky wants NATO to offer security guarantees to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire or peace deal with Russia 鈥� something Moscow has called 鈥渦nacceptable.鈥�
NATO鈥檚 eastern members have been some of the strongest backers of Ukraine since Russia invaded and have repeatedly warned about the prospect of Moscow stepping up its aggression.
Baltic states Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are former Soviet republics, now EU members, that fear they are in Moscow鈥檚 crosshairs.
US President Donald Trump has heaped pressure on NATO鈥檚 European members to increase their defense spending, sparking fears about the US commitment to protect the continent.