NATO to welcome Nordic members as Ukraine pushes back Russian forces

HELSINKI/KYIV, May 12 (Reuters) – Finland said on Thursday it intended to apply for NATO membership without delay, and Sweden was likely to do the same, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reshapes European security and the alliance. Atlantic Military.

NATO allies hope Finland and Sweden gain membership quickly, five diplomats and officials told Reuters, paving the way for a larger troop presence in the Nordic region during the one-year ratification period. read more

“Finland must apply for NATO membership without delay,” President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in a joint statement in Helsinki. “We hope that the national steps that are still needed to make this decision will be taken quickly in the coming days.”

Finland, which shares a 1,300 km (810 mile) border and a pre-1945 history of conflict with Russia, has gradually stepped up cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a partner since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In the wider Nordic region, Norway, Denmark and the three Baltic states are already NATO members, and the addition of Finland and Sweden would likely anger Moscow, which says NATO enlargement is a direct threat to its own security. .

Russian President Vladimir Putin cited the issue as one of the reasons for his actions in Ukraine, which also expressed a desire to eventually join the US-led Western alliance.

Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland and Sweden, both European Union member states, against joining NATO, threatening “serious military and political consequences.”

Asked Wednesday whether Finland would provoke Russia by joining NATO, Niinisto said: “My answer would be that (Putin) caused this. Look in the mirror,” Niinisto said. read more

UKRAINIAN COUNTERATTACK

On the front lines, Ukraine said Wednesday it had pushed back Russian forces in the east and shut off gas flows on a route through Russian-held territory, raising the specter of an energy crisis in Europe.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said it had recaptured Pytomnyk, a town on the main road north of the second-largest city of Kharkiv, halfway to the Russian border.

The British Ministry of Defense said Thursday in its daily update on the military situation that Ukrainian forces had retaken several towns and villages. read more

In the village of Vilkhivka, less than 20 miles (30 km) south of the Russian border, a gray-haired pensioner recounted how Russian troops had used him and other villagers as human shields before retreating after fierce fighting. read more

“Can they really call themselves true soldiers after that?” He spat. “They are sons of bitches, not military!”

The advance appears to be the fastest Ukraine has made since it expelled Russian troops from the capital kyiv and northern Ukraine in early April.

If maintained, it could allow Ukrainian forces to threaten supply lines for Russia’s main strike force and place rear logistical targets inside Russia within artillery range.

But Russian forces were regrouping to prevent further advances and had crossed the Donets River where the fighting was taking place, Ukraine’s general staff said on Thursday.

In the south, Ukraine’s military said Thursday morning it had destroyed two tanks and an ammunition depot in the Russian-controlled Kherson region.

Viacheslav Chaus, governor of the northern Chernihiv region, said some civilians were killed and injured in the city of Novhorod-Siversky by Russian airstrikes targeting critical infrastructure, administrative buildings and private homes overnight.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to disarm the country and protect it from fascists. He also denies attacking civilians.

Ukraine and the West say that the fascist accusation is unfounded and that the war is an unprovoked act of aggression, in which thousands of civilians have been killed and towns and cities have been destroyed.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he did not see how there could be a future normalization of relations with Putin, as there was a risk that he would resort to military aggression again. read more

CONFLICT AFFECTS GAS SUPPLY

Ukraine’s move on Wednesday to cut off Russian gas supplies through territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists was the first time the conflict had directly disrupted shipments to Europe.

Russian export monopoly Gazprom’s gas flows to Europe via Ukraine fell by a quarter after kyiv said it was forced to stop all flows on one route, via the Sokhranovka transit point in the south. From Russia.

Ukraine has accused Russian-backed separatists of diverting supplies. read more

Moscow also imposed sanctions on the owner of the Polish part of the Yamal pipeline that transports Russian gas to Europe, as well as the former German unit of Gazprom, whose subsidiaries serve Europe’s gas consumption.

The implications for Europe, which buys more than a third of its gas from Russia, were not immediately clear.

BURNT TANKS

In southern Ukraine, where Russia has seized a swath of territory, kyiv has said Moscow plans to hold a fake referendum on independence or annexation to make its occupation permanent.

The Kremlin said Wednesday that it was up to residents living in the Russian-occupied Kherson region to decide whether they wanted to join Russia, but any such decision must have a clear legal basis.

Russian forces also continued to bombard the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian defenders in the southern port.

Ukraine says tens of thousands of people are likely to have been killed in Mariupol. Ukrainian authorities say between 150,000 and 170,000 of the city’s 400,000 residents still live there amid the Russian-occupied ruins. read more

Reuters bureau reports; Written by Costas Pitas and Stephen Coates; Edited by Lincoln Feast, Simon Cameron-Moore and Mark Heinrich

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