NATO Allies Plan to Increase Support for Ukraine at Summit.

The leaders of nine Central and Eastern European countries, known as the Bucharest Nine, have called for increased support for Ukraine and its aspirations to join NATO at the upcoming alliance summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The group aims to provide a more robust, multi-year, and comprehensive support package for Ukraine, which will reinforce its defence capabilities and increase interoperability with NATO. The Bucharest Nine also expects to upgrade political relations with Ukraine to a new level and launch a new political track that will lead to Ukraine's membership in NATO, once conditions allow. The group came together in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and sees Russia as the most significant and direct threat to Allies' security.