Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his NATO counterparts to issue an invitation during a meeting in Brussels next week to Kyiv to join the Western military alliance, according to the text of a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.

"We believe that the invitation should be extended at this stage," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote in a letter to his NATO counterparts.

Ukraine has called on NATO to issue an invitation to join the Alliance at the summit scheduled for December 3-4 in Brussels, according to Reuters. In a letter seen by the agency, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha addressed his NATO counterparts.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius wants to purchase four submarines in a deal worth more than 4.7 billion euros ($5 billion) that will require parliamentary spending committee approval, two sources told Reuters on Friday,

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius wants to purchase four submarines in a deal worth more than 4.7 billion euros ($5 billion) that will require parliamentary spending committee approval,