Radio TNT 102.5 FM

NATO leaders were set Wednesday to invite Finland and Sweden to join after Turkey dropped objections, as the alliance looked to revamp its defences at a summit dominated by the war in Ukraine.

More than four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, upending the European security landscape, leaders gather in Madrid for what NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg called a “historic and transformative summit” for the alliance’s future.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to address the meeting via video link to renew Kyiv’s pleas for accelerated weapons deliveries from its allies.

NATO countries, which have already committed billions of dollars in military assistance to Kyiv, will agree to a “comprehensive assistance package to Ukraine, to help them uphold the right for self-defence”.

“We meet in the midst of the most serious security crisis we have faced since the Second World War,” Stoltenberg said.”

“We’ll state clearly that Russia poses a direct threat to our security.”

NATO is due to launch the largest revamp of its defence and deterrence capabilities since the end of the Cold War by strengthening the forces on its eastern flank and massively ramping up the number of troops it has at high readiness.

“Russia now is an aggressor in Ukraine, Russia attacked Ukraine and Russia is a threat for Europe but not only for Europe, for all NATO,” Poland President Andrzej Duda said.

“This is a very clear situation now.”