Ukraine war briefing: Path to Nato membership ‘irreversible’

Nato allies at their Washington summit have said Ukraine’s “future is in Nato” and its path to membership is “irreversible”, making the declaration in a statement published on Thursday. Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, said Ukraine’s membership to Nato is not a “question of if, but when”.

The member states criticised China in stronger language than before for assisting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling it a “decisive enabler” supplying components for military equipment and chemicals for explosives. “This increases the threat Russia poses to its neighbours and to Euro-Atlantic security,” they declared in their summit communique.

The first F-16 fighter jets are on their way to Ukraine and will be flying missions this summer, the Dutch and Danish governments have said. Dan Sabbagh writes that they will be the first of about 85 of the combat aircraft that have been committed to Kyiv to turn around its fortunes on the battlefield, and Ukraine signalled more may be to come.

A Russian missile attack on the Odesa region killed two people and damaged port infrastructure on Wednesday, the region’s governor said.

Russia’s security service, the FSB, claimed to have thwarted an attempt by Ukrainian intelligence services to induce a crew member on the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov in Murmansk to sabotage the ship.

The Kremlin has criticised the new British prime minister, Keir Starmer, for his comments affirming that Ukraine can use British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles against legitimate targets within Russia.

Keir Starmer is expected to promise that the UK will support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” as he confirms Britain’s £3bn a year funding package for Kyiv will continue for as long as needed. At the Nato summit on Thursday, Starmer will warn that the frontline defence of the Euro-Atlantic region is the Ukrainian trenches. Britain’s new defence secretary, John Healey, has visited Ukraine promising artillery guns and shells and 90 Brimstone missiles. The UK has also confirmed it will contribute £40m to Nato’s comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine and the UK-administered international fund for Ukraine will place a new order, worth £300m, for 120,000 rounds of 152mm artillery ammunition.