Putin, on a state visit for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, vowed to deepen trade and security ties and to support the North against the U.S.

After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, NATO allies agreed to move toward spending two per cent of their gross domestic product on defence within a decade.

Such a deal appears a nonstarter for Kyiv, which wants to join the military alliance and has demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from all of its territory.

Finland's accession, ending seven decades of military non-alignment, roughly doubled the length of the border the North Atlantic Treaty Organization shares with Russia.

The United States and Germany recently authorized Ukraine to hit some targets on Russian soil with the long-range weapons they are supplying to Kyiv.

While Ukrainian leaders urged governments from Berlin to Washington to ease the restrictions on supplied weapons, western countries appeared increasingly divided.

President Vladimir Putin warned that hitting Russian soil with Western-supplied weapons could set the war on a dangerous new path.

'NATO is increasing the degree of escalation,' a Kremlin spokesman said, after NATO's head called for alliance members to alet Ukraine to use Western weapons in Russia.

NATO’s top soldier said Ukraine’s flag 'will be hoisted in front of (NATO’s) headquarters' one day. The United States' top soldier said allies are rushing to get arms to Kyiv.

Defence Minister Bill Blair says that he is looking to replace Canada's tanks and purchase new submarines, but he still needs to finalize the "business case."

NATO foreign ministers celebrated the 75th anniversary of their alliance on Thursday, while its secretary general reminded the United States that it needed its allies.

On Wednesday, Ukraine lowered the military conscription age from 27 to 25 to help replenish its depleted ranks after more than two years of war.

President Andrzej Duda's appeal comes at Poland marks the 25th anniversary of its accession to NATO, along with the Czech Republic and Hungary, on March 12, 1999.

Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday. The military alliance announced the move on Thursday in a statement.

The vote, which passed with 188 votes for and six against, was the culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary's allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block.