Brussels, 3 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) - NATO foreign ministers are due to start two days of meetings in the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, focusing on supporting Ukraine's continuing defence against the full-scale Russian invasion.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha is to brief his NATO counterparts on the current status of the fighting as Ukraine's eastern front comes under increased pressure from Russian attacks.

Ukraine is also expected to make a renewed push to join the alliance after a suggestion from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his country could agree to a ceasefire with Russia if NATO extends its protection to the parts of the country controlled by Ukraine.

"If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," Zelensky said in an interview with the British TV channel Sky News.

The alliance has so far declined to offer Ukraine membership over concerns that the Russian invasion of Ukraine would escalate into a conflict involving NATO.

NATO foreign ministers also plan to discuss last month's Russian launch of an experimental ballistic missile against Ukraine and examine Ukraine's air-defence needs.

The Russian military has said that the new medium-range missile it fired at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last week can hit targets across Europe and cannot be stopped by air-defence systems.

Deterring and defending against Russian hybrid attacks or acts of sabotage against NATO members is also expected to be on the agenda.

With the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and an offensive by an alliance of insurgents in Syria, the discussion could veer off topic when Jordan's King Abdullah II joins the foreign ministers on Tuesday.