Russia warns of ‘unabsurd’ NATO decisions at summit

The U.S. is pushing NATO to the most unfavorable confrontation with Russia, with the decisions anticipated from the Alliance's summit in Lithuania this week, while Kyiv's allies are losing in Ukraine, Russian diplomats have warned.

Divisions in the NATO military alliance are said to prevent the Western military alliance from offering Kyiv a date for Accession or a straightforward invitation to join during the summit taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Kremlin has said that Kyiv's potential membership in the Western alliance would be a danger, and Moscow will react clearly and firmly.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it would be absurd if Ukraine doesn't offer a time frame for NATO membership at the summit.

It's unprecedented and absurd when a time frame is not set, neither for the invitation to join NATO nor for Ukraine's membership. While at the same time, vague wording about 'conditions' is added even for inviting Ukraine, he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

A senior U.S. official said President Joe Biden would meet with Zelensky at the summit on Wednesday.

The summit in Vilnius, Zelensky said he expects the summit to confirm that Ukraine is already a de facto member and work out an algorithm for Kyiv to officially join it.

If the conflict between Russia and Ukraine ends, his team has been pressing NATO for a clear route for Ukraine to join.

Moscow said it was following the NATO summit closely and that it would take measures to protect Russia's own security.

Anatoly Antonov, Russian Ambassador to the United States, said Washington is preparing anti-Russian decisions at the NATO summit.

Everything is being done to prepare the local public opinion for the acceptance of any anti-Russian decisions that will be made in Vilnius in the coming days, Antonov said in a post on the embassy's Telegram channel.

Konstantin Gavrilov, a Vienna-based Russian diplomat and a senior security negotiator, told the Russian RIA state news agency in an interview that the West is losing in Ukraine.

The so-called counteroffensive, which began last month, has been proceeding more slowly than hoped, but Ukraine's military said Monday that its forces had caught occupying Russian troops in a trap in the shattered eastern city of Bakhmut.

The Kremlin also said President Vladimir Putin had met with Wagner private military group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his fighters after their brief mutiny last month.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said on June 29 that Putin had welcomed Prigozhin and 34 Wagner commanders at the Kremlin.

The commanders themselves outlined their version of events, emphasizing that they are soldiers and staunch supporters of the head of state and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Peskov said.