Lithuania

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began a visit Wednesday to the Baltic countries, arriving in Lithuania as his country seeks to bolster its air defenses amid Russia’s intensified missile and drone onslaughts in the 22-month-old war.

The focus of his two-day trip to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Zelenskyy said on his official Telegram channel, will be security concerns, Ukraine’s hopes to join the European Union and NATO, and building partnerships in drone production and electronic warfare capacities.

VILNIUS/HELSINKI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The three incidents that resulted in damage to a gas pipeline and two telecom cables between Estonia, Finland and Sweden "are related", Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.

Finland on Friday said it had raised its risk assessment for gas supply security as a result of the damage to the Balticconnector Finland-Estonia pipeline, which operator Gasgrid has said could be out of commission until April or longer.

VILNIUS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Estonia has contacted Chinese authorities as part of its investigation into how two Baltic Sea telecom cables were severed, the Estonian foreign ministry said on Monday.

Early on Oct. 8, a gas pipeline and a telecoms cable connecting Finland and Estonia under the Baltic Sea were broken, in what Finnish investigators say may have been deliberate sabotage.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — President Joe Biden pledged Wednesday that western allies “will not waver” in defense of Ukraine, casting the struggle against Russian aggression as one of the world’s central challenges requiring a broad coalition of countries to stand in defense of freedom.

“Our unity will not falter,” Biden declared. “I promise you.”

VILNIUS, July 12. /TASS/: NATO believes its priority is to supply Kiev with advanced weapons systems and a huge amount of ammunition and spare parts for them, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.

VILNIUS, July 12. /TASS/: The countries of the Group of Seven (G7) will continue to exert economic and political pressure on Russia in connection with its special operation in Ukraine.

This is stated in the G7 declaration on the general principles of long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, adopted on Wednesday on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.

VILNIUS, July 12. /TASS/: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin voiced a number of proposals on the grain deal, which are being discussed now.

"The grain deal has been extended twice, with 33 mln tons of food delivered to global markets during the period of its validity. We have discussed the issue of extending the grain deal with [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky. He supports its extension. Putin has voiced some proposals on the issue. Those proposals are being discussed," Erdogan told reporters following a NATO summit.

VILNIUS, Lithuania, 12 Jul (NNN-XINHUA) – Leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), yesterday failed to set a timetable for Ukraine’s membership of the alliance, following the first day of the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Speaking at a press conference, NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, said, allies have agreed on a package of three elements to “bring Ukraine closer to NATO.” However, he clarified that an invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance will be issued “when allies agree and conditions are met.”

VILNIUS, July 12 (Reuters) - NATO leaders at this week's summit in Vilnius said Ukraine should be able to join the military alliance at some point in the future but dashed Kyiv's hopes for an immediate invitation.

The guarded statement on Ukraine's path into NATO irked President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. But after 16 months of war since Russia launched what it calls its special military operation, his country is still set to come away from the summit with some tangible rewards.

Below are some of the main commitments pledged to Ukraine in connection with the summit.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — NATO leaders gathered Wednesday to launch a highly symbolic new forum for ties with Ukraine, after committing to provide the country with more military assistance for fighting Russia but only vague assurances of future membership.

U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the new NATO-Ukraine Council, a permanent body where the 31 allies and Ukraine can hold consultations and call for meetings in emergency situations.