Ukraine Update…503 days into the Russian move on Ukraine # 2 ….NATO……

Here’s what to know:

• Though Stoltenberg said Tuesday that NATO was “sending a message to Ukraine, which is stronger than any message NATO has ever sent before, on membership for Ukraine,” Zelensky said any language that did not include a time frame for Ukraine becoming a member of NATO would be “absurd.”
• The U.S. delegation was furious with Zelensky’s tweet, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive diplomatic considerations.
• President Biden will meet with Zelensky at the summit, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday.
• In a boost to the alliance, Turkey dropped its opposition to Sweden’s NATO membership bid on the eve of the summit, paving the path for Stockholm’s eventual inclusion as the bloc’s 32nd member state. “This summit is already historic before it has started,” Stoltenberg said early Tuesday….

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Here are other developments:

• Mr. Zelensky was attending a dinner on Tuesday evening with leaders of NATO countries, according to Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, and is to attend the inaugural meeting on Wednesday of the NATO Ukraine Council, a new group that will give Ukraine an equal voice on key issues alongside full member states. Mr. Biden is planning to meet with Mr. Zelensky on Wednesday, White House officials said.

• For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO countries gave political approval to detailed plans designed to ensure the alliance’s collective military defense against a major attack by a power like Russia, which upended NATO’s strategic assumptions with its invasion of Ukraine.

• An abrupt shift on Monday by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unblocked Sweden’s bid to join NATO, a move that followed intense pressure from Mr. Biden and other allies. Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, said that the president would move forward “in consultation with Congress” with the transfer to Turkey of the F-16 fighter jets it is demanding.

• Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with a barrage of drones early Tuesday, all of which were shot down, the city’s military administration said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths…..

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image….President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, second from right, and his wife, Olena Zelenska, with NATO leaders during the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday.Credit…Pool photo by Yves Herma