TALLINN: Nordic and Baltic countries on Tue­sday declared their support for Ukraine’s “irreversible path” to Nato membership at a summit in Tallinn with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The leaders of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional cooperation format — met as the transatlantic alliance prepares for its own summit in Turkiye next month.

“Ukraine is a strategic security partner to Nato, contributing directly to Euro-Atlantic security through its battlefield experience, technological innovation and industrial capacity,” the NB8 leaders said a joint statement.

“We support Ukraine on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership,” they added. Ukraine is expected to take part in the Ankara summit, which comes as Nato’s European members fret over US Pre­s­ident Donald Trump’s com­mitment to the alliance.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon decades of military non-alignment and join Nato.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2026