NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses Putin

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference in Vilnius, where the alliance is going to hold its summit in the next few days.

Stoltenberg said that the armed conflict in Ukraine turned out to be "counterproductive" for the Russian leader.

″[Putin] went to war because he wanted less NATO. He's getting more NATO. Moscow, President Putin, does not have a veto on NATO enlargement," Stoltenberg said.

The Russian president underestimated Ukraine's military forces and hoped that the conflict would weaken NATO. Instead, however, the alliance is accepting new members. This speaks of the unity of all members of the bloc, the Secretary General concluded.

It was earlier reported that Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to the admission of Sweden to NATO. Ankara may approve the application for Sweden's entry into the alliance until July 21, CNN Turk said.

Moscow later said that Russia's retaliatory measures would be similar to those "planned in the context of Finland's already completed entry" into NATO.