Ahead of the summit in Vilnius, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held a press conference on Tuesday evening. There he came out with a warning.

– We look at all the events in Russia in recent days. This is an internal problem. But Putin’s actions have raised tensions. We must not underestimate Russia. It is important for us to continue to provide our support to Ukraine, Stoltenberg said during a press conference.

– The battle is tough, but Ukraine is making progress. We must continue to offer our support to Ukraine.

He stressed that support for Ukraine would give the country a stronger chance to fight against Russia.

Furthermore, Stoltenberg said that German troops would be able to move quickly through Lithuania to protect the country.

– The Russian war showed that we cannot take peace for granted and that we must strengthen our defensive capabilities.

Stoltenberg: – Delete messages to Moscow

Stoltenberg emphasized that NATO will strengthen the entire alliance and this will be the topic of the summit.

– What is really clear is that we have sent a clear message to Moscow that we will protect every inch of our allied territory, said Stoltenberg.

– We are not doing it to provoke conflict, but to protect our territory, he stressed.

– We will follow up and ensure that we will always be able to defend our allies. This is especially true for the countries bordering Belarus.

Stoltenberg was also asked if he would continue as general secretary.

– I am clear about my position on this issue and have nothing more to add, said Stoltenberg.

The Secretary General stressed that the allies stand firmly together and that President Putin’s decision did not affect this:

– Allies agree that NATO’s doors are open. Everyone agrees that Ukraine is welcome. We’ve stressed that over and over again. President Putin does not have veto power over NATO expansion, Stoltenberg said.

– But the most important thing is to make sure that Putin does not win in Ukraine. Therefore, we will increase our support to Ukraine.

The support applies both militarily, politically and with a view to future NATO membership, Stoltenberg clarified.

Stoltenberg previously stated that he expected increased support for Ukraine during the NATO summit.

He also said that he would tighten NATO’s target of having member countries contribute two percent GDPGDPGross domestic product (GDP) is the value of all goods and services produced in a country during a year..

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has invited NATO heads of state and government to the summit, which will take place on July 11 and 12.

– Central Summit

The press conference was held together with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

– One thing is clear to all of us. This will be the centerpiece meeting, said Mark Rutte at the start.

The following three areas will be at the center of the talks at the summit, he said: Moldova, the Black Sea and the eastern side of NATO.

The Dutch prime minister went on to say that the war in Ukraine goes against everything NATO stands for.

– Ukraine has our selfless support, emphasized Rutte.

– Innocent civilians will be protected from Putin’s attacks, now and in the future.

Will shorten the road to Ukraine

Ahead of the meeting, Secretary General Stoltenberg had garnered internal support within NATO for a plan that could shorten the path for Ukraine to become a member of NATO, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyj wants.

The point of Stoltenberg’s sketch is that Ukraine must not go through a formal planning process before membership becomes relevant.

Internally within NATO, this plan is called the Membership Action Plan, MAP.

According to VG’s information, Stolenberg must have presented the sketch at an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Oslo.

Month of disagreement

The backdrop to Stoltenberg’s proposal was months of disagreement between member states about how far the alliance should go in promising Zelenskyj more than NATO’s decision from 2008 that NATO’s doors open to Ukraine in the future.

While some member states in the East want to oblige NATO to promise membership quickly, countries such as the United States and Germany are holding back.

Another topic for the meeting may be Sweden’s NATO membership. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has so far been against this.

New meeting about Sweden and Finland next week

This was conveyed in a press conference, Tuesday (18/11). There it was revealed that other NATO countries still wanted and hoped that Sweden’s membership would be secured during the upcoming summit.

Stoltenberg said that he spoke to Erdogan about this on Sunday 25 June.

– My message is that Sweden has delivered and complied with its part of the agreement between them, Finland and Turkey. Now is the time to complete the membership process. That would be good for the Nordic region, for the Baltics and for the whole of NATO – including Turkey, Stoltenberg said during a press conference.

Further, he said that Erdogan had agreed to a meeting on Sweden, Finland and Turkey in Brussels next week.

Both foreign ministers and defense ministers from each country are expected to attend the meeting.

– The aim is to make progress so that we can take positive decisions during the Vilnius Summit.

Storage: – We have no time to waste

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also spoke during the press conference. He praised Stoltenberg for his leadership and stressed that Norway stands with Ukraine and will continue to do so.

– Norway has committed to a five-year plan in which we support Ukraine, said Støre.

He stressed that it was urgent to get Sweden into NATO.

– We don’t have time to lose Swedish membership, said Støre.

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this article, VG wrote that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had advocated that NATO countries contribute at least 2 percent of the “state budget”. This is wrong. The correct figure is 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Corrections were made on June 27 at 23.50.