WASHINGTON As the Russian  irruption of Ukraine continues with no end in sight, NATO’s  important- famed  concinnity faces fresh strains when leaders gather for their periodic  peak this week in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The world’s biggest security alliance is  floundering to reach an agreement on admitting Sweden as its 32nd member. Military spending by member nations still lags behind longstanding  pretensions. And an  incapability to compromise over who should serve as NATO’s coming leader forced an extension of the current clerk general’s term for an  redundant time.

Maybe most thorny are questions over how Ukraine should be eased into the alliance. Some maintain admitting Ukraine to NATO would be the fulfillment of a  pledge made times agone and a necessary step to discourage Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. Others are fearful it would be seen as a provocation that could  helical into an indeed wider conflict.

Bickering among  musketeers isn't uncommon, and the current  roster of  controversies pales in comparison to  once fears that Donald Trump would turn his  reverse on the alliance during his administration. still, the challenges come at a moment when President Joe Biden and his counterparts are heavily invested in demonstrating harmony among members.

“ Any  chink, any lack of solidarity provides an  occasion for those who would oppose the alliance, ” said Douglas Lute, who served as US  minister to NATO under President Barack Obama.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is eager to exploit divisions as he struggles to gain ground in Ukraine and faces political challenges at home, including the  fate of a brief  rebellion by the Wagner mercenary group.

“ You do n’t want to present any openings, ” Lute said. “ You do n’t want to present any gaps or seams. ”

By some measures, the Ukraine conflict has reinvigorated NATO, which was created at the  morning of the Cold War as a bulwark against Moscow. Members of the alliance have poured military  tackle into Ukraine to help with its ongoing  counterattack, and Finland ended a history of nonalignment to come NATO’s 31st member.

The US  blazoned Friday it'll  give Ukraine with the controversial cluster munitions. Such a  lemon poses a advanced  threat of mercenary  detriment as it opens in the air releasing  lower “ bomblets ” across a wide area, hitting multiple targets  contemporaneously. Ukraine has promised to use it precisely.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni — one of Western Europe’s  steadfast backers of Ukraine in the war reiterated her country’s  commination of the Russian aggression but called for the “ universal  operation of the principles ” of the  transnational convention banning the  product, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions.

  UN deputy  spokesperson Farhan Haq said Secretary- General Antonio Guterres “ wants countries to abide by the terms of that convention and so as a result, of course, he doesn't want there to be continued use of cluster munitions on the battleground. ”

  But the ongoing war has allowed other challenges to  mold or bubble to the  face.  In particular, NATO leaders said back in 2008 that Ukraine would  ultimately come a member, but little action has been taken toward that  thing. Putin  enthralled  corridor of the country in 2014 and  also  tried to capture Kyiv in 2022, leading to the current war.

  “ A argentine zone is a green light for Putin, ” said Daniel Fried, a former US  minister to Poland, and now a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council.  The US and Germany  contend that the focus should be on supplying munitions and  security to help Ukraine win the current conflict, rather than taking the  further  instigative step of extending a formal assignation to join NATO.

 still, countries on NATO’s Eastern hand — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — want firmer assurances on  unborn class.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing for that as well. During a visit to Prague on Thursday, he said the “ ideal ” result of the Vilnius  peak would be an assignation for his country to join the alliance.

  NATO could use the occasion to elevate its relationship with Ukraine, creating what would be known as the NATO- Ukraine Council and giving Kyiv a seat at the table for consultations.  Also in the  limelight in Vilnius will be Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the main  handicap blocking Sweden’s attempts to join NATO alongside its neighbor Finland.

Erdogan accuses Sweden of being too lenient onanti-Islamic demonstrations and militant Kurdish groups that have waged a decades-long  insurrection in Turkiye.  Sweden  lately changed itsanti-terrorism legislation and lifted an arms  proscription on Turkiye. still, a man burned a Qur’an outside a synagogue  in Stockholm last week, and Erdogan  gestured that this would pose another  handicap. He equated “ those who permitted the crime ” to those who  executed it.

Turkiye and the US are also at an impasse over the  trade of F- 16 fighter  spurts. Erdogan wants the upgraded aeropla  , but Biden says that Sweden’s NATO class has to be dealt with first.  Sullivan said the US is confident that Sweden will join NATO “ in the not- too-distant future, ” but it’s unclear if the matter will be resolved during the  peak.