Vilnius summit to bring Ukraine closer to NATO: Stoltenberg

Brussels, July 8 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, will bring Ukraine closer to the military alliance.

"I expect that our leaders will once again confirm that Ukraine will become a member of NATO and agree on how to bring Ukraine closer to achieving its goal," Stoltenberg said at a press conference here late Friday.

He said that the NATO aims to adopt three regional defence plans at the summit from July 11-12, reports Xinhua news agency.

He said the military bloc would strengthen its deterrence in the Atlantic and European Arctic in the north, in the Baltic region and Central Europe in the center, and in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in the south.

To execute these plans, NATO would put 300,000 troops on high readiness, including substantial air and naval combat power, Stoltenberg said.

The NATO chief added that he expected the endorsement of a new "Defence Production Action Plan to aggregate demand, boost capacity and increase interoperability",

At the summit, NATO allies are expected to set a more ambitious defense investment pledge to invest a minimum of 2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) annually on defence.

The summit will also be attended by the leaders of Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the European Union.

This will be Finland's first summit as a NATO member, Stoltenberg noted, adding that the bloc "looks forward to Sweden joining as soon as possible".