Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missile strikes hit multiple Ukrainian cities

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made his first public comments since last month’s failed rebellion led by Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is actively engaged with his commanders
Shoigu said that Putin listens to "very detailed reports" twice a day and "all commanders on all levels understand and feel all the weight of responsibility that was placed on them."

"They carry out their responsibilities with great pride," he said.

Shoigu claimed that Ukraine hasn't achieved any of its goals in its counteroffensive. The defense minster added that Russia may be using cluster munitions following the announcement that Ukraine will be receiving similar weapons from the U.S.

"If the United States supplies cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces will be forced to use similar weapons against the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a response," he said.

-ABC News' Natalia Shumskaia, Ellie Kaufman and Will Gretsky

Russia will take “early and adequate measures” in connection with Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday after the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Lavrov told reporters that he is convinced that "the speed with which this happened, of course, forces us to look for the reason in the complete subordinate position in which these countries have placed the United States and the rest of the collective West,” according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

-ABC News' Natalia Shumskaia and Ellie Kaufman

Ukraine will get an invitation to join NATO when all the allies agree and all the conditions are met, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference from the NATO summit in Vilinus, Lithuania, on Tuesday.

NATO agreed to remove the required membership action plan, he added, which makes the process take only one step instead of two.

A NATO-Ukraine Council will also be launched, Stoltenberg announced. The first session is planned for Wednesday with participation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said.

Zelenskyy had criticized the process for joining NATO ahead of his trip to Lithuania, saying, "It’s unprecedented and absurd when timeframe is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership."

-ABC News' Fidel Pavlenko

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called on Tuesday for NATO to invite Ukraine to become a member, offering a strongly worded statement as the coalition leaders gathered for a summit in Lithuania.

Ukraine "deserves respect," Zelenskyy said in a statement posted on Twitter.

"It's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership," he said. "While at the same time vague wording about 'conditions' is added even for inviting Ukraine. It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance."

Keeping Ukraine out of NATO amounts to a "motivation" for Russia to "continue its terror," he said.

"Uncertainty is weakness," he added.

Russia rebutted the statement a short while later.

"This is potentially very dangerous for European security. Indeed, it is fraught with great dangers, and those who will make this decision should be aware of that," Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said when asked to comment on Ukraine's possible fast-track admission to the coalition.