France will join Britain in supplying long-range SCALP missiles to Ukraine. Speaking on arrival at a summit of the 31-member NATO alliance in Lithuania, French President Emmanuel Macron said he had decided to boost military aid to Ukraine to help its counteroffensive.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it would be absurd if NATO leaders gathering for a summit did not offer his country a timeframe for membership after the alliance head said it would send Kyiv a positive message.

Kyiv is pushing to be allowed into the Western alliance, bound together by mutual security guarantees. But divisions among NATO's 31 members mean there will not be a date or straightforward invitation for Ukraine to join.