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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy (R) alongside US counterpart Joe Biden at the NATO Summit, Vilnius, Lithuania, July 12, 2023 (CNN)

EA on UK Media: Biden, Britain, and the NATO Summit

Ukraine War, Day 504: NATO Sets Out Path for Kyiv’s Membership

Map: Institute for Study of War

UPDATE 1725 GMT:

Russian shelling across Ukraine has killed three civilians today.

The victims are a 60-year-old resident of the village of Popivka in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine; a man in his 40s in Orikhiv in the southern Zaporizhzhia region; and an 85-year-old woman in the village of Mykilske in the neighboring Kherson region.

UPDATE 1505 GMT:

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said of Ukraine’s accession to NATO after the defeat of the Russian invasion, “I have no doubt that will happen, and we heard just about every country in the room say as much.”

Austin told CNN that there is still work to be done. He cited “judicial reform” to “make sure that the democracy is in good shape”.

UPDATE 1216 GMT:

The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Brig. Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, has confirmed the receipt of US cluster munitions.

The Biden Administration authorized the supply last week after Ukraine established five principles, including no use on civilians or in urban areas; no use inside Russia; and strict monitoring of deployment to ensure de-mining operations of liberated areas.

“We just got them, we haven’t used them yet, but they can radically change [the battlefield],” Tarnavskyi told CNN. “The enemy also understands that with getting this ammunition, we will have an advantage. The enemy will give up that part of the terrain where it is possible to use this.”

Tarnavskyi emphasized the restrictions on the use of clusters, with prohibition in heavily populated areas even if they are occupied by Russian forces.

UPDATE 1148 GMT:

Sweden will “simplify and speed up” deliveries of military assistance to Ukraine.

The Swedish Government said Defense Minister Pål Jonson signed a “protective security agreement” with Ukraine at the NATO Summit in Lithuania on Wednesday.

The agreement makes it possible for Sweden and Ukraine to exchange confidential information concerning, for example, test flights of JAS Gripen [fighter jets] or military equipment.

The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration signed another agreement that will enable Ukraine to purchase defense material directly from the industry with shorter delivery times.

Jonson said, “We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes for them to win the war, regain their freedom and rebuild their country.”

UPDATE 1138 GMT:

Russian shelling has killed an 85-year-old woman in the village of Mykilske in the Kherson region on southern Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the Russian attacks killed an 81-year-old man and wounded his 82-year-old wife in the region.

UPDATE 1054 GMT:

Foreign Minister Vopke Hoekstra has confirmed that the Netherlands is joining the G7 security framework for Ukraine, with the requisite military, economic, and financial support.

UPDATE 0807 GMT:

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has proposed to Vladimir Putin that the July 2022 grain deal, lifting the Russian blockade of three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea be extended in exchange for connecting a subsidiary of Russia’s Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT interbank payment system.

Russia has repeatedly threatened to block extensions of the deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey. The latest two-month renewal expires on Monday.

“Two sources familiar with the negotiations” said Guterres sent a letter to Putin, asking the Russian leader for an extension of several months while the banking arrangement is established. He also assured Putin that the UN is ready to help facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports.

A “source close to the negotiations” confirmed Russia’s receipt of the letter: “Yes, there is such an appeal. We are familiar with its essence. It is proposed to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for at least two months.”

Rosselkhozbank was disconnected from SWIFT in June 2022 as part of intelligence sanctions over Putin’s war on Ukraine.

This past June, the EU considered the creation of Rosselkhozbank subsidiary linked to SWIFT as the “least bad option”. The bank refuses to connect the bank directly as it is State-owned.

Moscow is also demanding the resumption of supply of agricultural machinery and spare parts; the lifting of restrictions on insurance and reinsurance of goods; the removal of the ban on access to EU ports for Russian ships; and restoration of the operation of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.

UPDATE 0800 GMT:

Ukrainian authorities say the death of a civilian in Kyiv — reported earlier to have been caused by debris from a downed Russian drone (see 0551 GMT) — was from a house fire that was not related to the attack.

UPDATE 0745 GMT:

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has highlighted Russia’s concern about the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, saying they would be considered a “nuclear threat”.

Lavrov, speaking to the pro-Kremlin outlet Lenta.ru, said Moscow has informed the US, UK, and France that Russia “cannot ignore that these aircraft carry nuclear weapons”.

“No assurances will help here,” he declared, adding the warning that the Russian military “will not sort out whether each specific aircraft of the is equipped for the delivery of nuclear weapons or not”.

Ukraine has yet to receive any F-16 jets from its international partners. However, a coalition of 11 countries announced at this week’s NATO summit that training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s will begin in August in centers in Denmark and Romania.

UPDATE 0732 GMT:

UK military intelligence reports Russian forces are now using vehicle bombs in an attempt to hold back Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the east of the country.

The analysts says that since June, the Russians are using “antiquated armoured vehicles packed with several tonnes of explosives as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices”. The crew “likely bail out of the vehicle after setting it on its course”.

Most of the attacks have been reported near Marinka in the Donetsk region, where Chechen units have reinforced Russia’s defenses.

Pro-Russian Chechen fighters used IEDs in the Chechen Wars from the 1990s. They reportedly employed similar vehicle bombs in Ukraine in January 2023.

The UK analysts assess that most of the bombs “have almost certainly detonated before they reached their target through a combination of anti-tank mines and direct fire”. However, “extremely large explosions…are still likely to have a psychological effect”.

UPDATE 0653 GMT:

The commander of Russia’s 58th Combined Arms Army, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, has been fired because he told superiors of the mass casualties among his frontline troops from Ukraine’s artillery.

The 58th Army is trying to hold back the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine. The deputy commander of the Southern Military Command, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov, was killed on Tuesday in a Ukrainian missile strike near the Russian-occupied port city of Berdyansk.

In an audio statement, Popov said he was removed because he “called a spade a spade” in his report to superiors, “toughly” identifying problems in the Russian army “in combat work and support”. He cited the “mass death and injury” of troops because of “lack of counter-battery combat and artillery reconnaissance stations”.

The general said the order for his dismissal was “concocted in one light day” by “senior commanders sensed danger in him” and signed by Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.

Popov also reportedly called for the rotation of units who have been on the frontline for an extended time and suffered significant losses. The overall commander of the Russian invasion, Maj. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, accused Popov of panicking and blackmailing senior leadership.

UPDATE 0646 GMT:

Pro-Ukraine hackers have again disrupted TV broadcasts in parts of northwest and southwest Russia.

UPDATE 0636 GMT:

Norway is providing components for NASAMS air defense missile systems and 1,000 Black Hornet nano drones — designed to help soldiers scout surroundings — to Ukraine.

The air defense components will complement the systems that Lithuania plans to deliver to Kyiv.

Norway is also donate tens of thousands of food rations.

The 2.5bn kroner ($240m) package takes Oslo’s planned assistance to 10 billion kroner this year.

UPDATE 0626 GMT:

As the achievements of the NATO Summit overtake media proclamations of “division”, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko has calmed the disturbance from UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace’s jibe that “people want to see a bit of gratitude” from Kyiv for the assistance it has received.

UPDATE 0551 GMT:

A civilian has been killed and at least four injured in Russia’s drone strikes on Kyiv.

For the third consecutive night, Russia fired Iranian-made Shahed “kamikaze” drones on the capital.

The city’s military administration said the “massive attack…entered the capital from different directions”. It said 20 drones, as well as two Kalibr cruise missiles, had been downed.

Falling debris was reported in five districts.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has hailed a “good result” from the two-day NATO Summit in Lithuania.

After a tense opening on Tuesday, with Zelenskiy expressing worries about a draft text discussed without Ukraine’s input, the 31-nation bloc set out a path for Kyiv’s accession after the defeat of the Russian invasion.

That was followed on Wednesday by a series of commitments to substantial military aid to Kyiv, and by a framework from the G7 nations of long-term security and economic support.

The summit was also boosted by the lifting of the Turkish and Hungarian blockade of Sweden’s accession, with Stockholm expected to become the 32nd NATO member this autumn.

Zelenskiy did not obtain a specific timeline for Ukraine’s accession; however, in meetings with NATO leaders throughout Wednesday, he obtained assurances that the process would be expedited after the end of the Russian invasion. That was bolstered by the waiving of the Membership Action Plan, a process that can take several years.

At a late afternoon press conference alongside US President Joe Biden, Zelenskiy said:

I believe we will be in NATO when the security situation is stabilized. That means when the war is finished, Ukraine will definitely be invited to NATO and we will definitely become a member nation of the alliance. I haven’t heard any other opinion today.

He followed up in his nightly address to the nation:

For the first time since independence, we have formed a security foundation for Ukraine on its way to NATO.

Very importantly, during these two days of the Summit, we have put to rest any doubts and ambiguities about whether Ukraine will be in NATO. It will!

Knocking back misleading headlines about a crisis within NATO and among Ukraine’s international supporters — and a jab by UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that Kyiv should show more gratitude for assistance — the President said he was “grateful to all those who have worked for unity in Vilnius”.