NATO summit to focus on Ukraine war, 'growing challenge from China'

NATO leaders will hold talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and turn their attention to the challenge from China at a meeting with Asian partners, as they wrap up a three-day summit in Washington.

The 32-nation alliance has used the pomp-filled set piece in the US capital to showcase its resolve against Russia and backing for Kiev.

Their gathering has been overshadowed by political uncertainty in the United States as President Joe Biden who will give a press conference Thursday fights for his political survival.

Zelenskyy will join his NATO counterparts at a giant convention centre in the heart of the US capital after getting promises of new weaponry to bolster the defence of the skies over Ukraine.

But he has called on Kiev's backers, especially the United States, to go further including by giving his outgunned forces greater scope to strike inside Russia.

NATO's leaders on Wednesday once again demurred from issuing his war-torn country a clear invitation to join their alliance.

Zelenskyy unleashed a diplomatic firestorm at a summit in Lithuania last year by lambasting NATO's reluctance on membership.

In a bid to soften any disappointment this time around, NATO leaders called Ukraine's path to membership "irreversible."

They also pledged to provide Kiev with a minimum of $43B in military support "within the next year."

'Growing challenge from China'

Ahead of the sit-down with Zelenskyy, NATO will switch its focus to the growing challenge from China as it welcomes the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

NATO leaders have expressed their "profound concern" about the deepening ties between Beijing and Moscow.

A declaration from the summit released Wednesday called China a "decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine" through its supplies of dual-use goods such as microchips that can help Moscow's military.

Beijing has already angrily rejected the accusations from NATO and says the US-led alliance is seeking an excuse to expand its influence eastwards.

The United States has been pushing its European allies for years to pay closer attention to the threats posed by China.

The summit in Washington will be the third such gathering attended by leaders from the four Asia-Pacific partners.