NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (Photo: NATO)

Stoltenberg said it is more important that Finland and Sweden’s applications to join NATO be ratified quickly than that they be approved at the same time.

Ukraine has an urgent need for more military aid, said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, insisting that the US and its NATO allies will support Ukraine over the long haul. The Western allies have provided 50 billion USD in military aid to Ukraine since the conflict broke out at the end of last February.

At the meeting, Ukraine lobbied its allies to step up military support. Ukraine’s current rate of ammunition expenditure is many times higher than NATO’s current rate of production. Germany's Boris Pistorius said NATO countries should consider going above the defense spending threshold of 2% of GDP. The German government is debating that right now and will soon reach an agreement, Pistorius said.

The Kremlin said Tuesday that the US-led NATO alliance demonstrates its hostility toward Russia, and is becoming more and more involved in the conflict in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said NATO countries’ weapons supply to Ukraine are prolonging the conflict and increasing the risk of further escalation. The Kremlin has repeatedly warned that any escalation could lead to direct NATO and US intervention in the conflict.