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VILNIUS, Lithuania — A major rift between NATO and Ukraine split open today as President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY blasted the alliance for not using language in a joint statement that signals Kyiv would eventually become a member nation.

The text, which NatSec Daily scooped ahead of the official release, says that “We will be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance when Allies agree and conditions are met.” That language simply reflects the current situation: Allies could all greenlight Kyiv’s accession today if they wanted, but they won’t because Ukraine is still defending itself against Russian invaders and NATO membership would mean the alliance would have to get directly involved.

But Zelenskyy is mad as hell about it and, hours before arriving here, called the rhetoric of the text weak.

“It’s unprecedented and absurd when [a] time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership. While at the same time vague wording about ‘conditions’ is added even for inviting Ukraine,” he tweeted.

“Uncertainty is weakness,” he continued.

A person familiar with the discussions, granted anonymity to discuss internal negotiations, said that NATO countries sent this text to Ukraine before it was officially finalized with a subtle message that it was nearly complete and that Kyiv should accept it. Clearly, Zelenskyy did not, presumably because the phrasing isn’t far from the 2008 Bucharest Declaration that stated Ukraine alongside Georgia “will become members of NATO.”

The Biden administration is holding firm to its position backing the declaration, however. “We’ve already said that Ukraine’s place in the future is going to be in the alliance at some point. They’ve got reforms they have to work out. Rule of law, good governance, political reforms that need to be done, and they’re at war right now,” National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY said moments after Zelenskyy’s tweet, adding: “Now is not the time” for Ukraine to join NATO.

NATO Secretary-General JENS STOLTENBERG defended the compromise text, calling it “a strong package for Ukraine,” that ultimately offers “a clear path towards its membership in NATO.”

The Ukrainian leader is scheduled to meet with President JOE BIDEN on Wednesday, a rendezvous that now takes on a more hostile tone following Zelenskyy’s public denouncement. Biden has been very vocal about not offering Ukraine NATO membership during the Vilnius summit because of the continuing war. He also said Kyiv needed to undergo more democratic reforms before it could join the political-military bloc.

All of this adds drama to a summit that earlier today seemed headed for a boring two days. Before the session began, the Turkish president lifted his objection to Sweden’s accession to NATO, seemingly solving the summit’s biggest will-they-won’t-they mystery. That had NATO officials in Vilnius optimistic that the largest headache would be avoided.

But they were wrong, as Zelenskyy’s arrival — and plans to speak out against NATO’s membership language — is set to be the biggest drama yet.

Read: NATO membership offer falls short of Ukraine’s hopes by LILI BAYER

SWEET FOR SWEDEN: While Ukraine awaits impatiently to join the group, Biden and top administration officials today lauded Sweden’s anticipated accession as a “consequential” decision for NATO’s future.

“This is a historic moment. Adding Finland and now Sweden to NATO is consequential,” Biden said in Vilnius. “And we’re looking for a continued united NATO. I still think that President Putin thinks the way he succeeds is to break NATO and we’re not going to do that.“

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday agreed to drop his long-held resistance to Sweden joining, while the foreign minister for Hungary, the other remaining hold out, said today that Sweden’s membership is now only a “technical” question.

In Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN’s eyes, the news sends two messages: “First of all, our alliance is stronger, it’s bigger with two new members — Finland and now Sweden, and it’s more united than ever,” he told CBS. It also sends “a very strong message to Putin that he’s not going to outlast us, he’s not going to outlast Ukraine, and the sooner he ends this war of aggression the better.”

Sweden brings another strong and advanced military into the alliance, Kirby said on MSNBC, adding that “they’re going to bring to the alliance in very, very short order a lot of significant capability to help bolster NATO’s Eastern flank. It’s a big development.”

But Sweden says it isn’t celebrating just yet, awaiting the official ratification process, Lili reports.

JETS TO ANKARA: Washington will move forward with sending F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN said today, a day after Ankara finally greenlit Sweden’s contentious NATO bid.

Sullivan praised the jets deal while speaking with reporters and said “rumors of the death of NATO’s unity were greatly exaggerated.” He provided no details of when the transfer would happen.

The timing of the delivery has come under public scrutiny, with White House officials emphasizing that Washington’s jets transfer has nothing to do with Turkey and Sweden reaching a deal on NATO.

“The United States’ message was encouraging Turkey to move forward with Sweden’s ascension as quickly as possible,” an administration official told Playbook Monday night. “And so while we were not direct parties to the negotiations here, we were heavily encouraging and supportive of them and obviously very heavily engaged diplomatically in conversations with everyone involved.”

UKRAINE WOULD’VE BEEN ‘DEFENSELESS’: Blinken defended the White House’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, saying it was a decision of last resort in the face of supply constraints, our own ERIC BAZAIL-EIMIL reports.

“The stockpiles around the world and in Ukraine of the unitary munitions, not the cluster munitions, were running low. They’re about to be depleted,” Blinken told NBC’s ANDREA MITCHELL today. “The hard but necessary choice to give them the cluster munitions amounted to this: If we didn’t do it, we don’t do it — then they will run out of ammunition. If they run out of ammunition, they will be defenseless.”

It was a controversial decision by the Biden administration, with proponents saying Ukraine needs the ammunition while critics point to the increased potential for civilian casualties when clusters are used. Russia and Ukraine have used cluster munitions in the war, with Ukrainian cluster munitions killing eight civilians in Izium last year, according to Human Rights Watch.

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TRUMP WANTS DOC TRIAL DELAY: GOP presidential frontrunner DONALD TRUMP wants a lengthy delay before he goes to trial for allegedly hoarding military secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate, our own JOSH GERSTEIN and KYLE CHENEY report.

Proceeding with the trial while he remains a candidate for president would make it virtually impossible to seat an impartial jury, attorneys for the former president and his personal aide and co-defendant, WALT NAUTA, said in a court filing Monday night.

NEW NATO CONCEPT: NATO members today formally endorsed a “new concept” to step up the bloc’s cyber defense measures and announced a NATO cyber summit to take place later this year, our own MAGGIE MILLER reports (for Pros!).

The effort, unveiled in the communiqué mentioned earlier, is part of a larger push to strengthen NATO’s cyber defenses in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and to spell out the consequences for attacks on a NATO member in cyberspace.

‘WE WILL LOSE TALENT': Air Force Gen. C.Q. BROWN, Biden’s stalled pick to be the nation’s top military officer, warned senators today that an indefinite blockade of senior officer promotions could cause a brain drain in the ranks, our own CONNOR O’BRIEN reports.

Testifying at his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing to be chair of the Joint Chiefs, Brown said the effect of a prolonged hold on general and flag officers — launched by Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.) in protest of Pentagon abortion policies — could have far-reaching impacts on the armed forces that go beyond the officers now delayed.

“We have our more junior officers who now will look up and say, ‘If that’s the challenge I’m going to have to deal with in the future … I’m going to balance between my family and serving in a senior position,’” Brown said. “And we will lose talent because of those challenges.

No nominees for general or admiral have been confirmed for months because of Tuberville, who wants the Pentagon to reverse its policy to reimburse costs for troops who must travel to other states to seek abortions. More than 250 senior promotions are pending on the Senate floor.

CODEL BACKS UKRAINE LANGUAGE: Lawmakers backed the NATO communiqué language amid criticism it didn’t offer Ukraine a clear path to membership.

“There’s a process that won’t start as long as there’s a war,” said Sen. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.), a member of the six-person bipartisan delegation in Vilnius. He does, however, “feel confident that offer will be made to” Ukraine at some point.

Sen. THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.), who co-led the delegation, said there was no need to dilute the accession protocol, even though Ukraine has fought bravely and ably.

“A one-off process is not necessary. We need to maintain the integrity of the process,” he told reporters today. He added that Ukraine is already on the right path in terms of democratic and military reforms.

However, the joint statement said Ukraine no longer needed to follow a Membership Action Plan to join NATO — easing Kyiv’s path though not making it easy.

NDA-NAY: Rep. ADAM SMITH (D-Wash.), the top Armed Services Democrat, isn’t “remotely” confident that the National Defense Authorization Act will pass this week due to partisan battles that are likely to break out.

Without the slew of hard-right amendments that could be added to the bill, Smith predicted, well over 300 House members would vote for the bill. With them, “you lose most, if not all, Democrats,” he told Playbook — and possibly enough centrist Republicans to tank the bill.

Read: How PGA Tour officials defended their Saudi golf deal to Congress by ANTHONY ADRAGNA

‘HELP US OVERCOME’: A U.S. general in Europe asked the CODEL in Lithuania to help end the military promotion blocks by Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.).

“Help us overcome the holds,” pleaded Lt. Gen. ANDREW ROHLING, the deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Europe-Africa. He shortly after told Punchbowl’s ANDREW DESIDERIO that Tuberville’s holds are “reprehensible, irresponsible and dangerous.”

Rohling then gestured to nearby Col. KAREEM MONTAGUE, who is among the officers who can’t get promoted without Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER spending valuable floor time blasting through Coach’s holds. Montague “should be getting paid as a general,” Rohling said, “but he’s not.”

It’s a rare moment of candor from a senior military leader who isn’t in their role via political appointment. It shows that anger is bubbling up from the brass and, in Rohling’s case, bubbling over.

SERBIAN SANCTIONED: A top Serbian security official was sanctioned by the Treasury Department today for his “corrupt and destabilizing acts” that led to support and assistance in Russia’s “malign activities,” our own KIERRA FRAZIER reports.

ALEKSANDAR VULIN, director of Serbia’s intelligence agency, “used his public positions to support Russia, facilitating Russia’s malign activities that degrade the security and stability of the Western Balkans and providing Russia a platform to further its influence in the region,” the department said.

Vulin became the Balkan state’s new spy chief in December. While previously serving as interior minister, Vulin visited Moscow in August after refusing to join the West in sanctioning Russia. Treasury alleged that Vulin maintained a relationship with U.S.-designated Serbian arms dealer SLOBODAN TESIC to ensure that Tesic’s illegal arms shipments “could move freely across Serbia’s borders.”

–– MICHAEL HOROWITZ has been named deputy assistant secretary of defense for force development and emerging capabilities, a new office combining two roles. He previously was director of the DOD’s emerging capabilities policy office.

–– KATIE ISAACSON will join Sen. PATTY MURRAY’s (D-Wash.) office as a defense/veterans legislative aide. She previously worked as a legislative associate at the American Legion.

–– TIMOTHY CURRY is now EVP of global affairs at Stryk Global Diplomacy. He is the former deputy director of counter terrorism policy at DHS.

–– RYAN DOHERTY is now chief of staff for irregular warfare and counterterrorism at the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. He most recently was a team chief in the policy office.

— GINA ABERCROMBIE-WINSTANLEY is now president of the Middle East Policy Council. She previously was chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the State Department and is the former U.S. ambassador to Malta.

–– DON HAIRSTON was named general manager of Austal USA Advanced Technologies in Charlottesville, Va. Hairston was vice president and general manager of the C5 Systems Division at L3Harris Technologies.

–– SHELLY O’NEILL STONEMAN, senior vice president for government relations at BAE Systems, has been named senior vice president for government affairs at Lockheed Martin, effective Aug. 28. Stoneman will replace GREG WALTERS, who will retire this year. Walters took over the role after CHRISTIAN MARRONE resigned in February.

— GREY ANDERSON and THOMAS MEANEY, The New York Times: NATO isn’t what it says it is

— U.S. Ambassador to Japan RAHM EMANUEL, The Wall Street Journal: Japan is ready and able to maintain U.S. naval vessels

— MELINDA HARING and DOUG KLAIN, The Hill: Biden’s risking his legacy on Ukraine

— The Atlantic Council, 9 a.m.: NATO Public Forum

— Senate Armed Services Committee, 9:30 a.m.: Hearing on the nomination of Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. RANDY GEORGE to be chief of staff of the Army.

— House Science, Space and Technology Committee, 10 a.m.: Hearing on Enhancing Fire Weather Prediction and Coordination.

— U.S. Institute of Peace, 10 a.m.: Afghanistan’s Dire Humanitarian Situation: How Can the International Community Alleviate the Crisis and Protect Afghan Livelihoods?

— Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 10:30 a.m.: Discussion on the NATO Vilnius Summit

— Hudson Institute, 11 a.m.: China Prepares for War: A Timeline

— East-West Center, 11 a.m.: New War in the South China Sea: Framing China’s Unrestricted Warfare and the Role of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy

— Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1:30 p.m.: Competing for the Future of Cloud Computing

— Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1:30 p.m.: How Climate Change Challenges the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent

— House Homeland Security Border Security and Enforcement Subcommittee, 2 p.m.: Protecting the U.S. Homeland: Fighting the Flow of Fentanyl from the Southwest Border

— Hearing: Senate Intelligence Committee, 2:30 p.m.: Hearing on the nominations of Air Force Lt. Gen. TIMOTHY HAUGH to be director of the National Security Agency and MICHAEL CASEY to be director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

— Heritage Foundation, 3:30 p.m.: Securing the Border and the Homeland

Thanks to our editor, Emma Anderson, who calls us weak, and our writing “unprecedented and absurd.”

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who is strong, and you should see his writing skills.