NATO leaders declared Russia the biggest threat to the region and pledged during the Madrid summit to support Ukraine until it regains full sovereignty, while Moscow denounced NATO's further expansion in Europe.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Wednesday that the alliance's leaders agreed on the new strategic vision of NATO and that Russia is its biggest threat.

He added that the alliance has approved an aid package for Ukraine that includes securing military equipment and air defense systems, pledging to continue providing military and financial aid to Ukraine.

The NATO Secretary General also said that NATO leaders had taken the decision to invite Finland and Sweden to become members of the alliance.

And Stoltenberg had previously said that NATO leaders will take a "historic decision" today, Wednesday, to invite Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, considering that the speed of the alliance's invitation to them is "unprecedented."

Stoltenberg had said in his speech during the opening session of the summit that Russia has become a direct threat to the security of the NATO countries.

On the other hand, the NATO leaders pledged in their statement to condemn Moscow's continued "aggression" against Kyiv, and to hold Russia responsible for the humanitarian catastrophe and the food and energy crisis.

They also considered "Russia to be the biggest threat to the Alliance, its safety and stability."

"We will continue to support Ukraine until it regains its full and undiminished sovereignty," a NATO summit statement said.

"We are a defensive entity that does not threaten anyone and is committed to democracy and freedoms and to the founding charter of the alliance," the statement added.

Expansion into Europe

US President Joe Biden announced during the summit today that his country will strengthen its military presence in Spain, Poland, Romania, the Baltic states, Britain, Germany and Italy, so that the alliance can "respond to threats coming from all directions and in all fields by land, air and sea."

Poland praised Biden's pledge to establish a military base on its territory. "It is the culmination of long and vigorous negotiations on this matter, and at the same time, a very clear signal that the Americans intend to increase their presence in Poland, not reduce it," Poland's foreign policy adviser, Jacob Komoc, told Reuters.

As Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Zidach wrote on Twitter, "Something that seemed impossible to many has become a reality today... We have a permanent US presence in Poland... It's also a clear signal to Moscow."

In this context, a senior US official told reporters today that the United States has not communicated with Russia about a set of major changes in its military posture in Europe, adding that it is not required to do so.

The official added that the first new strategic concept of NATO since 2010 will mention for the first time the "systematic challenges" posed by China and its growing relationship with Russia.

And CNN quoted US officials as saying that Washington intends to keep about 100,000 soldiers in Europe after Russia's war on Ukraine, knowing that their number before the start of the Russian war was about 60,000.

The headquarters of the US Ground Forces Unified Command in Europe is based in Stuttgart, while the Air Operations Command is based at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.

The US military bases - whether they are land, air or naval bases - are distributed on the European continent in the countries of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Britain, Greece and Bulgaria.

Russian position

On the other hand, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the further expansion of NATO will lead to instability and will not achieve security for its members, and that what he described as NATO's aggressive approach to contain Russia will not affect in any way its capabilities.

For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the West's aggressive attempts to impose a world order that suits it proves the correctness of the goal of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, she said.

She added that supplying Ukraine with weapons would prolong the military operation and increase the number of victims, and that the weapons provided by NATO to Ukraine might reach the black market;

What increases the crime rate in Europe.

The war in Ukraine

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the leaders of NATO countries during the summit, saying that his country needs advanced air defense systems and weapons to repel Russian attacks;

He demanded that they support his country and that there be a strong reaction to Russia's actions.

Zelensky stressed that Russia's war is not against Ukraine alone, but all of Europe.

The local authorities of the Mykolaiv district reported that 4 civilians were killed and 6 wounded, in a Russian bombing of an apartment building in the district.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that explosions shook this morning, Wednesday, separate areas of Mykolaiv;

Columns of smoke were seen rising from the city's port.

In the Donbass region, the attempts of the Russian forces to control the city of Lysichansk continue, as Al-Jazeera correspondent indicated that the city is surrounded from several sides, while the Ukrainian forces confirm that they are confronting the attempts of the Russian forces to advance to the west.

In Kharkiv, northern Ukraine, artillery and missile bombardment affected a number of the city's neighborhoods, in addition to some towns near the areas controlled by the Russian forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it targeted 4 Ukrainian command centers in the province, while Ukrainian sources spoke of fires and destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure.

In the center of the country, the city of Dnipro witnessed a missile bombardment, and columns of smoke were seen rising in the city, where the bombing killed at least two people and wounded 7.