Russia says NATO summit “failed before it started” | news

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Vilnius summit “failed before it started”.

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In a statement on Telegram, Zakharova said the United States (US) decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine “shocked” even its allies.

“A rare event: the summit has started and already failed,” said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, who listed a series of circumstances that caused the meeting to start off on the wrong foot.

For Zakharova, the US decision on cluster bombs that shocked even old American satellites, the public humiliation of Ukraine and the lack of a coherent perception of what is happening stand out as regrettable mistakes: “This is the summit in Vilnius,” he said.

Meanwhile, the two-day NATO summit began on Tuesday with the North Atlantic Council meeting in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

In his opening speech, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described first-time members Finland and Sweden as future members of the 31-member military alliance at the two-day NATO summit.

The summit began after the leaders posed for a family photo.

“Today we will take a number of decisions,” Stoltenberg said, “for a stronger alliance, increasing our practical and political support for Ukraine…which will bring Ukraine closer to NATO.”

“We will take bold steps to further strengthen our deterrence and security, including new plans for the defense of the New Atlantic region. We will also agree to more ambitious defense investment commitments,” it added.