The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to admit Sweden and Finland into NATO, endorsing an expansion of the alliance that supporters believe would send a message condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The 95-1 vote made the United States the 23rd of NATO’s 30 members to ratify the proposed addition, which leaders in Helsinki and Stockholm began to contemplate this spring in response to Russia’s aggressive cross-border campaign.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the vote “a signal to Russia: They cannot intimidate America or Europe.”
The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO would boost the alliance’s military assets, especially since the two countries’ considerable arsenals of artillery, warplanes and naval weapons are already compatible with NATO systems.
The expansion — adding Finland would more than double the amount of the organization’s territory directly bordering Russia — “is exactly the opposite of what Putin envisioned when he ordered his tanks to invade Ukraine,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).
As war grinds on, old political divisions reemerge in Ukraine
According to Article 10 of the NATO charter, additional European countries can be added to the ranks only “by unanimous agreement.” The seven countries that have yet to ratify Sweden and Finland’s membership include some where opposition could pose a hurdle, such as Hungary and Turkey.
After initially raising objections to the bid, Turkey struck a deal in late June in which it would drop its opposition tothe addition of Finland and Sweden if they agreed to shut down recruiting and financial networks of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and address Ankara’s requests to deport certain affiliated people.
At the time, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Sweden and Finland would have to “fulfill their duties” before the Turkish parliament would consider ratifying their bids for NATO accession. And in the weeks since, he has warned that Turkey could still “freeze” the process in its tracks, hinting that he was dissatisfied at their progress on the terms of the deal.
Erdogan warns Sweden and Finland to ‘fulfill’ duties under NATO deal
Meanwhile Hungary, whose authoritarian right-wing leader, Viktor Orban, is expected to address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texasthis week, maintains an enigmatic stance on how it will handle Sweden and Finland’s bid.
Even in the United States, there is a small but vocal contingent opposing NATO’s expansion. In a defiant speech ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) argued that allowing Finland and Sweden into NATO would be contrary to U.S. interests because “expanding NATO will require more United States forces in Europe, more manpower, more firepower, more resources, more spending, and not just now but over the long haul.”
“Our greatest foreign adversary is not in Europe, our greatest foreign adversary is in Asia,” he insisted.
Hawley’s opposition was strongly decried by members of his own party.
“Closer cooperation with these partners will help us counter Russia and China,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the floor, calling accession a “slam-dunk for national security.”
Democrats emboldened after Kansas abortion vote
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), meanwhile, pointed out that it would be “strange indeed” for senators who voted for North Macedonia’s 2019 accession into NATO — a group that includes Hawley — to suddenly oppose Finland and Sweden’s candidacy.
“Let’s be honest, who can deny the much stronger cases for Finland and Sweden?” Cotton said, arguing that those countrieswere “far larger, far more capable and far more strategically situated.”
Hawley’s opposition was all the more striking given that Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who opposed North Macedonia’s membership in 2019 and Montenegro’s membership in 2017, voted in favor of allowing Finland and Sweden into NATO.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the only other senator to have opposed the North Macedonia and Montenegro bids, voted “present” Wednesday, notingon the floor that in the wake of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, “I am less adamant about preventing NATO’s expansion with Sweden and Finland.”
The Senate rejected Paul’s efforts to attach an amendment to the ratification that would explicitly state the United States’ Article 5 obligations to defend member nations would not supersede Congress’s constitutional right to authorize the use of military force.
Menendez said the amendment was “unnecessary” to protect Congress’s constitutional role. He told his colleagues it was potentially “deeply damaging” and “self-defeating to do anything that casts doubt on our rock-solid commitment to NATO.”
The Senate approved by voice vote an amendment stating its expectation that all NATO members spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense.
NATO formalized its invitation to Sweden and Finland to join the alliance at the end of June and the decision must go to the 30 member states’ parliaments and legislatures for final ratification.
President Joe Biden sent the protocols for ratification to the Senate in July, paving the way for the vote, which needed to be approved by two-thirds of the Senate to succeed. The final tally of the Senate vote was 95 to 1, with GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri voting in opposition and GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voting present.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday that the vote to approve the resolution of ratification for Sweden and Finland’s application to NATO would take place and said that he had invited the ambassadors from Finland and Sweden to join in the gallery during debate and votes.
“Our NATO alliance is the bedrock that has guaranteed democracy in the western world since the end of World War II. This strengthens NATO even further and is particularly needed in light of recent Russian aggression,” Schumer said in remarks from the Senate floor.
“When Leader McConnell and I met with the Finnish President and Swedish Prime Minister in May, we committed to do this as fast as we could and certainly before we go home for the August recess,” Schumer said.
Once the Senate approves Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession protocols, “the next step in the ratification process is for the President to sign an instrument of ratification of the treaty,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN.
“Once the President has signed an instrument of ratification, that instrument is deposited (in the case of a multilateral treaty) with the treaty’s depositary,” which in the case of NATO, is the Department, the spokesperson said.
These steps will not happen on the same day that the Senate approves, and the final arrangements for depositing the instrument of ratification have not yet been made, the spokesperson told CNN.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell predicted in remarks on the floor on Wednesday ahead of the vote that it would be, “as decisive as it is bipartisan.”
McConnell argued that admitting Sweden and Finland to NATO will “only strengthen the most successful military alliance in human history.”
McConnell also used his floor time to take aim at lawmakers who do not support the resolution.
“If any senator is looking for a defensible excuse to vote no, I wish them good luck,” he said. “This is a slam dunk for national security that deserves unanimous bipartisan support.”
Sweden and Finland both announced their intention to join NATO in May, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a sudden shift in attitudes toward joining the bloc.
The reason most countries join NATO is because of Article 5, which stipulates that all signatories consider an attack on one member an attack against all. Article 5 has been a cornerstone of the alliance since it was founded in 1949 as a counterweight to the Soviet Union.
Hawley explained his position on the issue in a recent op-ed in The National Interest titled “Why I won’t Vote to Add Sweden and Finland to NATO.”
“Finland and Sweden want to join the Atlantic Alliance to head off further Russian aggression in Europe,” he wrote. “That is entirely understandable given their location and security needs. But America’s greatest foreign adversary doesn’t loom over Europe. It looms in Asia. I am talking of course about the People’s Republic of China. And when it comes to Chinese imperialism, the American people should know the truth: the United States is not ready to resist it. Expanding American security commitments in Europe now would only make that problem worse—and America, less safe.”
Paul similarly outlined his position in an op-ed in the American Conservative.
“As for Sweden and Finland, we still need serious, rational, objective debate on the costs and benefits of admitting two historically neutral nations who have such strategic geographic position in relation to Russia,” he wrote. “Before the Russian invasion, I would have said no. But given Russian actions, I have shifted from being against their admittance to NATO to neutral on the question, and will as a consequence vote ‘present.'”
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
June 23 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday declared the EU’s move to accept Ukraine as a candidate for accession as a victory and promised not to rest until Russia’s defeat and full membership had been secured.
European Union leaders formally accepted Ukraine as a candidate to join the 27-nation bloc, a bold geopolitical move hailed by Ukraine and the EU itself as an historic moment. read more
“This is a victory,” a smiling Zelenskiy said in a brief video posted to his Instagram channel, noting Ukraine had waited 30 years for this moment.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a meeting with local authorities during a visit to the southern city of Mykolaiv, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Ukraine June 18, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS
“We can defeat the enemy, rebuild Ukraine, join the EU, and then we can rest,” he said in a low voice.
“Or perhaps we won’t rest at all – our children would take offence. But without any doubt, we will win.”
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said Kyiv would quickly implement the plan needed for accession talks to begin.
“Ukraine will be in the EU,” he tweeted.
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Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ronald Popeski;
Editing by Mark Porter and Sandra Maler
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Ukrainian tanks and several Grad multiple launch rocket systems were seen heading in the direction of Toshkivka, Ukraine, on Sunday.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
LYSYCHANSK, Ukraine — Russian forces mounted an assault on Sunday against a key Ukrainian defensive position near two strategically important eastern cities, Ukrainian military officials said, bringing them a small step closer to encircling thousands of Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian forces rushed reinforcements to frontline positions around Toshkivka, a small town southeast of the metropolitan area of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. The Russians “had success” but were eventually held off, a Ukrainian official said, but the fight highlighted Ukraine’s faltering defense of two of the last cities in the Luhansk province of the Donbas region that are not yet under Russian control.
If Moscow’s forces succeed in cutting off Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, it could strand thousands of Ukrainian fighters defending the cities, deliver a hard-won military victory to Moscow and move its forces closer to President Vladimir V. Putin’s objective of seizing all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
Volunteers urged residents of Lysychansk, Ukraine, to evacuate on Sunday.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Ukrainian battle tanks and several Grad multiple launch rocket systems were seen heading in the direction of Toshkivka and other parts of the front line on Sunday afternoon, smoke billowing from their chassis and treads churning up backcountry roads, likely in an effort to push back Russian forces there.
One crew member, when asked if his tank was headed to the Ukrainian defenses in that area, smiled and nodded.
As Russian troops have moved to surround both cities amid weeks of street fighting and artillery duels, Ukrainian forces have fallen back and now hold only a small portion of Sievierodonetsk. That includes a chemical plant where hundreds of civilians are believed to be sheltering and which has come under withering Russian bombardment in recent days, Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, said on Sunday.
Fighting continues elsewhere in the region. To the southwest, Ukrainian military officials said Sunday that their troops had successfully repelled an offensive on the eastern outskirts of Berestove. The Ukrainian military’s general staff added that Russia is planning another assault in Sloviansk, about 50 miles directly west of Sievierodonetsk.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately comment on Toshkivka, but said earlier on Sunday that its forces had seized Metolkine, a town just east of Sievierodonetsk. The Russian state news agency Tass said that many Ukrainian fighters had surrendered there, although it was not possible to independently verify the claims.
Smoke from a fire caused by an artillery strike targeting a Ukrainian checkpoint in Lysychansk, Ukraine, on Sunday.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Toshkivka has served as an important part of a defensive wall in what has been referred to as the Sievierodonetsk pocket. Situated in the Donbas region — an area of rolling plains, farm fields and coal mining towns, where Moscow has committed the bulk of its military power in recent months — the pocket is about three-quarters encircled by Russian forces. That has left only a slender gap to the west where Ukrainian troops come and go by using village roads that are often targeted by Russian artillery fire.
And Russian troops have been creeping forward to close the gap.
If Ukrainian forces are unable to reinforce the frontline in Toshkivka, it means Russian forces will have tightened the noose from the southern direction, reducing the area for Ukrainian troops to maneuver within the pocket. It would also allow Russian forces to threaten the few remaining Ukrainian supply routes into Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said earlier this month that the future of much of eastern Ukraine would be decided in the battle for these two cities.
Ukraine’s decision to hold out in street fighting in Sievierodonetsk was a gamble from the start. Its strategy has been to fight at close range in the city, where Russia cannot bring its vast artillery advantage to bear.
But the soldiers in the city, and those supporting them in the neighboring town of Lysychansk on the western bank of the Siversky Donets River, have been at daily risk of being surrounded.
Residents of Lysychansk wait in an evacuation van on Sunday.Credit…Tyler Hicks/The New York Times
Russian artillery gun lines have pummeled the roads, bridges and Ukrainian positions with what Ukrainian troops estimate are thousands of shells each day.
However risky, Ukraine’s strategy has successfully tied up Russian forces and inflicted casualties, Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian minister of defense, said in an interview on Sunday.
“Right now, the main objective is to use the window of opportunity that we have to completely exhaust the Russians in the Donbas,” he said.
Besides, he added, it is better to fight now than to retreat and fight later at another site farther to the west.
“If we would move, they would move,” Mr. Zagorodnyuk said. “We would have to meet them somewhere. It’s not like Putin wanted just Sievierodonetsk. They will keep going until they are stopped.”
— Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Natalia Yermak and Andrew E. Kramer
Sam’s Club announced that it would be offering annual memberships for just $8, but only for a limited time in celebration of the upcoming Independence Day holiday.
The deal is only available from June 17 to June 26, the company said in its announcement on Thursday.
Sam’s Club Wholesale at Cuyahoga Falls. (iStock)
The offer was first introduced as a Super Bowl promotion earlier this year and was met with a huge response. The $8 mark was established for that promotion based on the yard line the football was on at the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter of the big game.
“Our members love a cause for celebration, and they’ve told us they plan on getting together with family and friends this Fourth of July – that insight has inspired our merchants to curate and develop unique items to meet their needs,” Sam’s Club chief member and marketing officer Ciara Anfield wrote.
FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY, TARGET EXPANDS ITS MILITARY DISCOUNT
“Just like our members, we also have a ‘more the merrier attitude’, so we’re excited to be able to bring back our $8 membership offer and let more people discover the quality, convenience, and value that Sam’s Club offers,” she continued.
FILE- Woman selecting items while shopping. (iStock)
WALGREENS, KROGER RECALLING PAIN RELIEVER BOTTLES OVER LACK OF CHILD-RESISTANT PACKAGING
A membership typically costs $45 per year, according to the company’s website. Consumers interested in the limited time deal can go to a Sam’s Club store and mention the “4th of July offer” at the membership desk.
The offer is limited to one per person and is only available for new members and previous members with accounts that have been inactive for 6 months or more, Sam’s Club said.
AMAZON PRIME DAY KICKS OFF JULY 12-13: WHAT TO KNOW
STREAMWOOD, IL – JANUARY 12: A sign hangs outside a Sam’s Club store on January 12, 2018, in Streamwood, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
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“This promo is only for new Members and previous Members with inactive accounts of 6 months or more,” the company wrote on Twitter.
The offer does not include “Plus” memberships, which include free shipping and pharmacy discounts.
Ukraine ‘belongs to the European family’ says Scholz
‘Europe can create a new history of freedom’ says Zelenskiy
KYIV/BRUSSELS, June 17 (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive Commission was expected to give its blessing on Friday to membership candidate status for Ukraine and two other former Soviet states, an historic eastward shift in Europe’s outlook brought about by Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine applied to join the EU just four days after Russian troops poured across its border in February. Four days later, so did Moldova and Georgia – two other states contending with separatist regions occupied by Russian troops.
The leaders of the three biggest EU powers – Germany, France and Italy – signalled their solidarity on Thursday by visiting Kyiv, along with the president of Romania.
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“Ukraine belongs to the European family,” Germany’s Olaf Scholz said after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. EU leaders are expected to endorse the Commission’s recommendation at a summit next week.
Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia will still face a lengthy process to achieve the standards required for membership, and there are other candidates in the waiting room. Nor is membership guaranteed – talks have been stalled for years with Turkey, officially a candidate since 1999.
But launching the official process to admit the three ex-Soviet states, a move that would have seemed unthinkable just months ago, amounts to a shift on par with the decision in the 1990s to welcome the ex-Communist countries of Eastern Europe.
“Precisely because of the bravery of the Ukrainians, Europe can create a new history of freedom, and finally remove the grey zone in Eastern Europe between the EU and Russia,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.
“Ukraine has come close to the EU, closer than any time since independence,” he said, mentioning unspecified “good news” to come.
If admitted, Ukraine would be the EU’s largest country by area and its fifth most populous. All three hopefuls are far poorer than any existing EU members, with per capita output around half that of the poorest, Bulgaria.
All have recent histories of volatile politics, domestic unrest, entrenched organised crime, and unresolved conflicts with Russian-backed separatists proclaiming sovereignty over territory protected by Moscow’s troops.
PORT BLOCKADE
President Vladimir Putin ordered his “special military operation” officially to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine. One of his main objectives was to halt the expansion of Western institutions which he called a threat to Russia.
But the war, which has killed thousands of people, destroyed whole cities and set millions to flight, has had the opposite effect. Finland and Sweden have applied to join the NATO military alliance, and the EU has opened its arms to the east.
Within Ukraine, Russian forces were defeated in an attempt to storm the capital in March, but have since refocused on seizing more territory in the east.
The nearly four-month-old war has entered a punishing attritional phase, with Russian forces relying on their massive advantage in artillery firepower to blast their way into Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian officials said their troops were still holding out in Sievierodonetsk, site of the worst fighting of recent weeks, on the east bank of the Siverskiy Donets river. It was impossible to evacuate more than 500 civilians who are trapped inside a chemical plant where the troops are holding out, the regional governor said.
In the surrounding Donbas region, which Moscow claims on behalf of its separatist proxies, Ukrainian forces are mainly defending the river’s opposite bank.
In the south, Ukraine has mounted a counter-offensive, claiming to have made inroads into the biggest swath still held by Russia of the territory it seized in the invasion. There have been few reports from the frontline to confirm the situation in that area.
Ukraine claimed its forces had struck a Russian tugboat bringing soldiers, weapons and ammunition to Russian-occupied Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea outpost.
Among the main concerns of world leaders is Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, preventing exports from one of the world’s biggest sources of grain and threatening to cause a global food crisis.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was sceptical that Moscow would agree to a United Nations proposal to open the ports.
“I already had talks a few weeks ago with President Putin, but he didn’t want to accept a U.N. resolution on this subject,” he said.
Russia blames the food crisis on Western sanctions, which it says harm its own grain exports, and Ukraine’s ports can’t be opened because of mines.
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Additional reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff, Editing by Angus MacSwan
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KYIV, Ukraine—The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania endorsed Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union and pledged additional weapons to counter the country’s war of attrition with Russia as they met Thursday with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky
for the first time since the start of the conflict.
French President
Emmanuel Macron,
German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz
and Italian Prime Minister
Mario Draghi
traveled together to Kyiv by train at a moment when Kyiv has been pleading for more Western military support to counter Moscow’s artillery barrages. Romanian President
Klaus Iohannis
later joined the group in a meeting with Mr. Zelensky and at a news conference where Mr. Macron announced that all four European leaders backed Ukraine becoming a member of the EU.
“This war will change the history of Europe,” Mr. Macron said. “All four of us support the immediate EU candidate status.”
Ukraine needs the unanimous support of other leaders in the 27-nation economic bloc to set in motion the long and painstaking process for becoming a member. Even if approved, it could take months or even years for actual negotiations to start. The issue has been divisive among EU capitals, especially in Western European countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, where opposition to enlarging the bloc has meant that no new country has joined the EU since Croatia almost a decade ago.
The leaders of France, Germany and Italy met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday, at a pivotal moment in the war with Russia. They traveled to the country by train and also visited Irpin, where the French president said there were signs of war crimes. Photo: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images
Still, the backing of the EU’s largest economies creates diplomatic momentum heading into next week’s EU summit in Brussels, where the issue will be discussed. It also sends a signal to Moscow that Ukraine’s economic future lies with Europe and the West.
Mr. Scholz on Thursday said that Ukraine belonged to the European family and that it would get Germany’s support on the way to joining the EU, though he added that there were strict criteria to be fulfilled in the process. The EU has called for further progress in rooting out corruption in Ukraine and deeper overhauls of the country’s economy and justice system.
Mr. Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to make the changes necessary to join the bloc.
The leaders’ visit was being closely watched in Ukraine and in capitals across Europe, where divisions have begun to emerge over how to bring the nearly four-month conflict to an end.
The European leaders’ trip to Ukraine on Thursday included a stop in Irpin, a town that suffered civilian casualties early in the war.
Photo:
ludovic marin/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Paris and Berlin see diplomacy as the only way to ultimately resolve the conflict and find a long-term security arrangement that allows European nations to cope with a bellicose neighbor armed with nuclear weapons. That stance was underscored Wednesday when Mr. Macron said Ukraine and its allies would have to hold talks with Moscow once the West has done everything in its power to help Ukraine hold off Russia’s invasion and, he hopes, emerge victorious.
Eastern European countries, which have been menaced by Russia in the past, consider its defeat on the battlefield of Ukraine a historic opportunity to deter future aggression and ensure Europe’s wider security. Poland, the Baltic countries and others are backing Ukraine’s calls for faster delivery of heavy weapons and argue that it is required to repel Russian forces and discourage any future incursions in Europe. Ukraine is also in need of weapons to blunt Russia’s naval advantage in the Black Sea.
The divide was thrown into relief earlier this month when the French leader came under criticism in Eastern Europe for an interview he gave to French newspapers, saying: “We must not humiliate Russia so that the day when the fighting stops we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means.”
Kyiv says that any territorial concessions to Moscow are off the table and that only a massive transfer of weapons and ammunition will hold advancing Russian forces at bay.
A Ukrainian flag in front of a destroyed house after a strike in Dobropillia, Ukraine.
Photo:
aris messinis/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
On Thursday, Mr. Macron tried to soften his message. He said he only wanted to avoid mistakes that were made a century ago when, in the wake of World War I, France squeezed concessions out of Germany that Mr. Macron said humiliated the country. He said his concerns about Russia’s humiliation similarly applied to the wake of the war in Ukraine.
“How can you expect me to explain to Ukrainians that we must not humiliate Russia? This isn’t the moment. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying today is we need to win this war.
Amid the diplomatic tensions, the conflict on the ground has transformed into an artillery war. After failing in their initial campaign to capture Kyiv, Russian forces have regrouped in the eastern Donbas area, where they have made deep inroads. Russia has deployed long-range artillery to outgun Ukrainian troops, who are taking heavy casualties.
On Thursday, Mr. Macron said France planned to send six more truck-mounted howitzers to Ukraine. Various Western countries have pledged assistance to Ukraine in recent weeks, promising deliveries of heavy weapons and financial aid for the purposes of reconstruction. But Kyiv says the supplies aren’t enough, and analysts say much of the equipment promised hasn’t arrived.
Mr. Scholz said Germany would continue to deliver weapons to Ukraine, emphasizing a recent agreement between the U.S., Britain and Germany to provide multiple rocket launchers to the embattled country. Mr. Scholz said Germany was training the Ukrainian military to use its most modern weapons: the self-propelled howitzers known as Panzerhaubitze 200 and the Gepard antiaircraft armored fighting vehicles.
“We support Ukraine also with weapons delivery, and we will continue to do so as long as Ukraine needs it,” said Mr. Scholz.
Mr. Zelensky said Ukraine valued the support and expected further deliveries of heavy weapons, missile-defense systems and artillery.
“Every tranche of such support saves Ukrainian lives, and every day of delay or stalled decision-making is the opportunity for Russian soldiers to kill Ukrainians and destroy our cities,” he said.
A damaged car near Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Photo:
IVAN ALVARADO/REUTERS
On Wednesday, the U.S. announced it was sending $1 billion in new military assistance to help Ukraine, but the package of artillery, ammunition and coastal defense systems amounts to a fraction of what Kyiv has requested. Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba
thanked the U.S. for the new round of assistance but stressed that “we urgently need more heavy weapons delivered more regularly.”
The U.S. has delivered less than half of the military aid committed to Ukraine, according to a report by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank. Germany, whose reluctance to send weapons has been criticized by Ukraine, hasn’t so far sent heavy weapons and only a third of its promised military support has actually been dispatched to Ukraine, the think tank said in a report published Thursday.
The European leaders’ visit to Ukraine comes as Moscow continues its brutal offensive against Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces are defending a sprawling chemical plant that is one of their last lines of defense in the strategic city along the Siverskyi Donets River. Controlling the area would allow Russia to move on the remaining towns of the Luhansk region.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s
spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin hoped the European leaders’ visit “won’t simply focus on supporting Ukraine by further pumping it with weapons. That’s totally useless.”
Dmitry Medvedev,
deputy chairman of Mr. Putin’s Security Council and a former Russian president, wrote in a
Twitter
post that “European fans of frogs, liverwurst and spaghetti love visiting Kiev. With zero use.”
Mr. Macron and other European leaders are walking an economic tightrope. The war is fueling a surge in the price of food, fuel and other essentials, putting political pressure on Western governments to tame inflation.
An improvised memorial of the Russian-Ukrainian war victims in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Photo:
Serhii Korovayny for The Wall Street Journal
Europe is also bracing for a loss of Russian natural-gas supplies that power factories and households across the continent. Efforts are under way to fill its natural-gas stores to avoid a winter energy crisis, but Moscow has already begun throttling back on deliveries.
Data from the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany show that gas shipments Thursday morning were less than half what they were earlier this week after Russia’s Gazprom PJSC said flows would fall further. Moscow has blamed the reduction on technical issues that German Economy Minister
Robert Habeck
dismissed, calling reduced flows “obviously a strategy to unsettle and drive up prices.”
The latest drop in imports from Russia drove benchmark European gas prices up 8.5% Thursday. The rise added to gains in recent days, taking the advance in prices over the past week to 58%.
—Joe Wallace and Laurence Norman contributed to this article.
Write to Matthew Luxmoore at Matthew.Luxmoore@wsj.com, Stacy Meichtry at stacy.meichtry@wsj.com and Bojan Pancevski at bojan.pancevski@wsj.com
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Turkey´s president on Monday complicated Sweden and Finland´s historic bid to join NATO, saying he cannot allow them to become members of the alliance because of their perceived inaction against exiled Kurdish militants.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on comments last week indicating that the two Nordic countries´ path to NATO would be anything but smooth. All 30 current NATO countries must agree to open the door to new members.
Erdogan spoke to reporters just hours after Sweden joined Finland in announcing it would seek NATO membership in the wake of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, ending more than 200 years of military nonalignment. He accused the two countries of refusing to extradite “terrorists” wanted by his country.
“Neither country has an open, clear stance against terrorist organizations,” Erdogan said, in an apparent reference to Kurdish militant groups such as the banned Kurdistan Workers´ Party, or PKK.
Swedish officials said they would dispatch a team of diplomats to Ankara to discuss the matter, but Erdogan suggested they were wasting their time.
“Are they coming to try and convince us? Sorry don´t wear yourselves out,” Erdogan said. “During this process, we cannot say ‘yes’ to those who impose sanctions on Turkey, on joining NATO, which is a security organization.”
Sweden has welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Middle East in recent decades, including ethnic Kurds from Syria, Iraq and Turkey.
Turkey´s objections took many Western officials by surprise and some had the impression Ankara would not let the issue spoil the NATO expansion. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg over the weekend said “Turkey has made it clear that their intention is not to block membership.”
In Washington, Swedish Ambassador Karin Olofsdotter was among those who said they were taken aback by Turkey´s objections.
“We have a very strong anti-terrorist agenda and a lot of, almost, accusations that are coming out … are simply not true,” she said.
Sweden decided Monday to seek NATO membership a day after the country’s governing Social Democratic party endorsed a plan for the country to join the trans-Atlantic alliance and Finland’s government announced that it would seek to join NATO.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson warned that the Nordic country would be in a “vulnerable position” during the application period and urged her fellow citizens to brace themselves for the Russian response.
“Russia has said that that it will take countermeasures if we join NATO,” she said. “We cannot rule out that Sweden will be exposed to, for instance, disinformation and attempts to intimidate and divide us.”
Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, and Sweden of repercussions should they pursue NATO membership. But Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday seemed to downplay the significance of their move.
Speaking to a Russian-led military alliance of six ex-Soviet states, Putin said Moscow “does not have a problem” with Sweden or Finland applying for NATO membership, but that “the expansion of military infrastructure onto this territory will, of course, give rise to our reaction in response.”
Andersson, who leads the center-left Social Democrats, said Sweden would hand in its NATO application jointly with Finland. Flanked by opposition leader Ulf Kristersson, Andersson said her government also was preparing a bill that would allow Sweden to receive military assistance from other nations in case of an attack.
“The Russian leadership thought they could bully Ukraine and deny them and other countries self-determination,” Kristersson said. “They thought they could scare Sweden and Finland and drive a wedge between us and our neighbors and allies. They were wrong.”
Once a regional military power, Sweden has avoided military alliances since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Like Finland it remained neutral throughout the Cold War, but formed closer relations with NATO after the 1991 Soviet collapse. They no longer see themselves as neutral after joining the European Union in 1995, but have remained nonaligned militarily until now.
After being firmly against NATO membership for decades, public opinion in both countries shifted following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, with record levels of support for joining the alliance. The Swedish and Finnish governments swiftly initiated discussions across political parties about NATO membership and reached out to the U.S., Britain, Germany and other NATO countries for their support.
On Sunday, Andersson’s party reversed their long-standing position that Sweden must remain nonaligned, giving NATO membership overwhelming support in Parliament. Only the small Left and Green parties objected when the issue was discussed by lawmakers on Monday.
Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar, whose calls for a referendum on the matter were dismissed by the government, said joining NATO would raise tensions in the Baltic Sea region.
“It does not help Ukraine,” she said.
Andersson said Sweden would make clear that it doesn’t want nuclear weapons or permanent NATO bases on its soil — similar conditions as neighboring Norway and Denmark insisted on when the alliance was formed after World War II.
During a visit to Helsinki on Monday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said there is “very significant” support in Congress for welcoming Finland and Sweden to the alliance and that he expects ratification before the August recess.
In a joint statement, Nordic NATO members Norway, Denmark and Iceland said they were ready to assist Finland and Sweden “with all necessary means” during the application process.
___ Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
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HELSINKI (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his Finnish counterpart Saturday relations between the two neighbors could be “negatively affected” if Finland follows through with plans to apply for NATO membership.
The Kremlin’s press service said in a statement that Putin told Sauli Niinisto that Finland’s abandonment “of its traditional policy of military neutrality would be an error since there are no threats to Finland’s security.”
“Such a change in the country’s foreign policy could negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations, which had been built in the spirit of good neighborliness and partnership for many years, and were mutually beneficial,” the statement added.
The response came after Niinisto told Putin in a phone conversation that the militarily non-aligned Nordic country that has a complex history with its huge eastern neighbor “will decide to apply for NATO membership in the coming days”.
Niinisto’s office said in a statement that the Finnish head of state told Putin how starkly Finland’s security environment had changed after Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion on Ukraine, and pointed to Russia’s demands on Finland refraining from seeking membership to the 30 member-state Western military alliance.
“The discussion (with Putin) was straightforward and unambiguous and was held without exaggeration. Avoiding tensions was considered important,” said Niinisto, Finland’s president since 2012 and one of a handful of Western leaders who has been in regular dialogue with Putin over the past decade.
Niinisto pointed out that he had already told Putin at their first meeting in 2012 that “each independent nation would maximize its own security.”
“That is still the case. By joining NATO, Finland will strengthen its own security and assume its responsibilities. It is not something away from anybody,” Niinisto said.
Niinisto stressed that Finland, despite its likely future membership in NATO, wants to continue to deal with Russia bilaterally in “practical issues generated by the border neighborhood” and hopes to engage with Moscow “in a professional manner”.
According to the Kremlin statement, the two leaders also discussed Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, and the possibility of achieving a political solution to the situation. Putin said negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv had been suspended due to Ukraine’s “lack of interest in a serious and constructive dialogue.”
The phone call was conducted on Finland’s initiative, Niinisto’s office said.
Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest by any European Union member.
Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday jointly endorsed Finland’s NATO bid and recommended that the country “must apply for NATO membership without delay” to guarantee the nation’s security amid Russia’s military maneuvers in Ukraine and Europe’s changed geopolitical and security landscape.
A formal announcement from Niinisto and Marin of Finland’s intention to apply for NATO membership is expected on Sunday. Marin’s governing Social Democratic Party approved the membership bid on Saturday, paving way for a parliamentary vote next week to endorse the move. It’s expected to pass with overwhelming support. A formal membership application would then be submitted to NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Neighboring Sweden is set to decide on its NATO stance on Sunday in a meeting of the governing Social Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
U.S. President Joe Biden held a joint call Friday with both Niinisto and Andersson where, according to a White House statement, he “underscored his support for NATO’s Open Door policy and for the right of Finland and Sweden to decide their own future, foreign policy and security arrangements.”
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HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s leaders said Thursday they’re in favor of rapidly applying for NATO membership, paving the way for a historic expansion of the alliance that could deal a serious blow to Russia as its military struggles with its war in Ukraine.
The annoucement by President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin means that Finland is all but certain to join the Western military alliance, though a few steps remain before the application process can begin. Neighboring Sweden is expected to decide on seeking NATO membership in coming days.
“NATO membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance,” Niinisto and Marin said in a joint statement.
“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” they said. “We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”
Russia reacted to the development with a warning. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Finland joining NATO would “inflict serious damage to Russian-Finnish relations as well as stability and security in Northern Europe.”
“Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps of military-technical and other characteristics in order to counter the emerging threats to its national security,” the ministry said.
“History will determine why Finland needed to turn its territory into a bulwark of military face-off with Russia while losing independence in making its own decisions,” it added.
Before the ministry issued its statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Finland’s decision wouldn’t help stability and security in Europe. Peskov said Russia’s response would depend on NATO’s moves to expand its infrastructure closer to Russian borders.
Finland has the longest border with Russia out of all the European Union’s 27 members.
Previously, the Kremlin had warned of “military and political repercussions” if Sweden and Finland decided to become a NATO member. Should they seek to join the alliance, there would be an interim period lasting from when the applications are submitted until ratification by lawmakers in all 30 existing member nations.
In NATO member Estonia, which also borders Russia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweeted that “history being made by our northern neighbors.” She pledged to support “a rapid accession process” for Finland into NATO.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde tweeted that Finland’s announcement gave an “important message.”
Finland’s announcement came a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited both Finland and Sweden to sign a military cooperation agreement.
The U.K. pledged Wednesday to come to the aid of Sweden and Finland if the two Nordic nations came under attack.
During a joint news conference with Johnson in Helsinki this week, Niinisto said Moscow could only blame itself should his nation of 5.5 million people become a NATO member.
“You (Russia) caused this. Look in the mirror,” the Finnish head of state said Wednesday.
On Thursday, Niinisto tweeted that he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about Finland’s firm support for Ukraine and the country’s intention to join NATO. Niinisto said Zelenskyy “expressed his full support for it.”
In 2017, Sweden and Finland joined the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force, which is designed to be more flexible and respond more quickly than the larger NATO alliance. The force uses NATO standards and doctrine so it can operate in conjunction with the alliance, the United Nations or other multinational coalitions.
Fully operational since 2018, the force has held a number of exercises both independently and in cooperation with NATO.
Russia’s aggression in Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to reconsider their traditions of military nonalignment and to contemplate joining NATO itself. Public opinion in the two countries quickly started to shift toward favoring membership, first in Finland and a bit later in Sweden, after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The latest opinion poll conducted by Finnish public broadcaster YLE showed earlier this week that 76% of Finns are in favor of joining NATO, a big change from earlier years when only 20-30% of respondents favored such military alignment.
Speaking to European Union lawmakers Thursday as Niinisto and Marin made their announcement, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that Russia’s unpredictable behavior was a serious concern for Finland. He cited Moscow’s readiness to wage “high-risk operations” that could lead to many casualties, including among Russians.
Should Finland become a NATO member, it would represent the biggest change in the Nordic country’s defense and security policy since World War II, when it fought against the Soviet Union.
During the Cold War, Finland stayed away from NATO to avoid provoking the Soviet Union, instead opting to remain a neutral buffer between the East and the West while maintaining good relations with Moscow and also with the United States.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the military alliance would welcome Finland and Sweden — both of which have strong, modern militaries — with open arms and that he expects the accession process to be speedy and smooth.
NATO officials say the Nordic duo’s accession process could be done “in a couple of weeks.” The most time consuming part of the procedure – ratification of the country’s protocol by the existing NATO members – could be completed in less time than the four or so months it took West Germany, Turkey and Greece to join in the 1950s, when there were only 12 members to ratify their applications.
“These are not normal times,” one NATO official said this week, discussing the possible applications of Finland and Sweden. The official was briefing reporters about the accession process on condition that he not be named as no application has been made by the two countries.
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Lorne Cook in Brussels, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.
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