Washington, Jul. 11, (dpa/GNA) – NATO leaders will hold talks in Washington on Thursday with the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, followed by further talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The meetings conclude a three-day NATO summit that began on Tuesday with a celebration of the alliance’s 75th anniversary.

NATO being a Euro-Atlantic alliance, the four Indo-Pacific countries are not members, but have been invited to discuss common security interests in the region.

Before the summit, China accused NATO of stoking tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, where the alliance has been cultivating partnerships with the four countries.

NATO, meanwhile published a declaration on Wednesday calling on China to cease “all material and political support to Russia’s war effort” in Ukraine. China “cannot enable the largest war in Europe in recent history without this negatively impacting its interests and reputation,” says the declaration.

The NATO-Ukraine Council will be held after the meeting with the Indo-Pacific leaders.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, NATO leaders announced further military support for Ukraine’s efforts to repel the Russian invasion, including air defence systems and a pledge to spend €40 billion ($43 billion) in the next year. They also declared Ukraine’s future path to NATO membership “irreversible.”

The United States, Denmark and the Netherlands on Wednesday announced that the promised delivery of American-made F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands was under way.GNA