Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, says the new weapons package heading to Ukraine, announced earlier, is “precisely what they need” and will strengthen their hand at any negotiations in the future.

He says NATO unity has only been strengthened by the conflict, something he believes Russia did not expect.

Blinken reiterates that NATO will defend “every inch” of the alliance’s territory and that 20,000 extra troops have been deployed to the eastern flank.

Sweden and Finland are “more than qualified” to join “as soon as possible”, he adds. The countries recently said they were applying to join NATO.