Stoltenberg ‘absolutely certain’ Nato will have ‘unity and a strong message’ on Ukraine membership

The Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, has said he is “absolutely certain” that by the end of the week the alliance will have “unity and a strong message” on the future membership of Ukraine.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda, in Vilnius before the summit, he also said that Sweden had met previously agreed conditions agreed with Turkey, and that it was still possible Ankara’s reticence could be overcome during the summit.

The summit will be dominated by discussions on membership options for Ukraine, resolving the dispute between Turkey and Sweden over the latter’s accession to the alliance, and the question of cluster munitions being supplied to Ukraine.

Jens Stoltenberg and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda address a joint press conference in Vilnius. Photograph: Filip Singer/EPA

Nausėda said a prospect of membership was extremely important to Ukraine, which had been “heroically fighting the Russian monster for almost one and a half years”, and that “we must avoid Ukraine membership … becoming a horizon. The more you walk towards it, the farther it is”.

Nato appears to have been clear that the door remains open and that Ukraine is expected to join eventually, but has been hesitant to put a timetable on it.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov had sharp words about the prospect, saying: “You know the absolutely clear and consistent position of the Russian Federation that Ukraine’s membership in Nato will have very, very negative consequences for the security architecture, the already half-destroyed security architecture in Europe. And it will be an absolute danger, a threat to our country, which will require from us a sufficiently clear and firm reaction.”