NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg stated on Wednesday that a summit of the heads of state and governments of the alliance will take place on 11 and 12 July 2023, in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius.

"I am pleased to announce that the next meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government will take place in Vilnius on 11-12 July 2023," Stoltenberg announced in a statement.

NATO heads of state will discuss further steps to strengthen the alliance's deterrence and defense, and "review significant increases in defense spending," according to Stoltenberg.

The NATO Secretary-General added that the summit will discuss steps to reinforce the deterrence and defense of the NATO coalition, "review significant increases in defense spending" and further support to Kiev.

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Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, tweeted in confirmation.

We are very proud to be hosting the NATO summit in Vilnius, which we hope will be a victory celebration for Ukraine. We will also be working hard to welcome Sweden and Finland as full members. We call on all our allies to increase solidarity and maximise support for Ukraine.

— Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 (@GLandsbergis) November 9, 2022

Earlier in May, Deputy Secretary-General of NATO Mircea Geoana announced from Vilnius that NATO is no longer bound by past commitments to hold back from deploying its forces in eastern Europe.

Russia had for years prior to the war in Ukraine warned of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.

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