As the meeting of the North Atlantic Council began, US President Joe Biden sat beside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as the alliance’s leader welcomed two new faces to the table: Finland President Sauli Niinisto and Sweden Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Stoltenberg offered welcoming words to both before he turned to the matter of Ukraine.

“Today, we will make many decisions for an even stronger alliance. We will increase our practical and political support to Ukraine. This will bring Ukraine closer to NATO, where it belongs,” Stoltenberg said.His comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized the alliance in a tweet for not offering more substantive accession plans to his country.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that Russia will respond "adequately" to the potential expansion of the NATO military alliance.

Lavrov expressed his surprise at "the speed with which both Finland and Sweden abandoned their neutral status" in his opening remarks during talks with the Foreign Minister of Oman on Tuesday.

He also noted the potential loss of special trade, economic, investment, and other relations that the two countries had with Russia.