The NATO process The Summit in Vilnius

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One. Patrick Semansky / AP  

The NATO process The Summit in Vilnius 

Biden on his way to the meeting - will demand more Ukraine support  

It's starting to come together - on Tuesday, NATO's heads of state and government will gather for a summit in Vilnius. Today, Sunday, US President Joe Biden flies to Great Britain, where he will meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles before departing for Lithuania, The Guardian reports.  

According to experts Politico spoke to, Biden's five days in Europe could have a major impact on both the future of the defense alliance and Russia's war in Ukraine.  

According to the news site, Biden will call for a doubling of Western aid in Ukraine during a major speech at the NATO summit on Wednesday.  

Support for Ukraine is expected to be the hottest issue at the meeting, writes TT. The NATO leaders seem to have agreed before the meeting to install a new NATO-Ukraine Council and to stand behind a multi-year assistance package.  

More divided is the issue of Ukrainian NATO membership. An official invitation to the alliance is out of the question during the meeting in Vilnius, according to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. 

German Patriot systems have been deployed around Vilnius ahead of the meeting. Mindaugas Kulbis / AP  

Soldiers and Patriots to protect NATO leaders in Vilnius  

Lithuania's Vilnius, the site of the NATO summit that begins on Tuesday, is just 32 kilometers from the border with Russian ally Belarus - and 151 kilometers from Russia itself. 16 NATO countries have therefore sent thousands of soldiers to protect the NATO leaders during the week, writes Reuters.  

Several countries also contribute advanced air defense systems, something the Baltic countries lack. For example, it is about the Patriot system from Germany. 

- It would be more irresponsible to have our skies unprotected when Biden and leaders of 40 other countries come, says Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.  

Zakharova, Zaporizhzhya. TT   

The NATO process The Summit in Vilnius  

Russia urges NATO to talk about Zaporizhzhya in Vilnius 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova is urging NATO to address the situation at the nuclear power plant in Ukrainian Zaporizhzhya at the defense alliance's summit next week, Reuters reports.  

She accuses Ukraine of "systematically damaging" the nuclear power plant, which is currently controlled by Russian forces. According to Zacharova, it should be in the NATO leaders' interest to prioritize the issue - in case an accident were to occur. 

- After all, a large majority of alliance members would be in the direct impact zone, she says on Telegram.  

Both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of planning attacks on and acting irresponsibly around the power plant. President Zelenskyy claimed earlier this week that the Russians had mined the roofs of several.