War in Ukraine | “A blow” for Moscow

NATO’s noose tightens on Russia

Andre Duchesne
The Press

The clear intention of Finland and Sweden to swell the ranks of NATO provoked a diplomatic retort from Russia on Thursday wanting it to retaliate with “military-technical” measures. But making threats is one thing, taking action is another.

For Vladimir Putin’s Russia is bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine, despite territorial gains in the east and south.

“For Russia, it’s a very hard blow to see Finland and Sweden show this interest,” summarizes Jacques Lévesque, professor emeritus of political science at UQAM.

The latter points out that Finland “is much better armed than Ukraine” and that it has shown that it is not “a cake that is easily swallowed”.

Postdoctoral researcher at the Center for International and Defense Policy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Thomas Hughes shares this idea that in the short and medium term, Russia will do nothing. “But the possibility remains, and that encourages Finland and Sweden not to take risks,” he says. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has crystallized the impression of threat felt by these two countries. »

On Thursday, Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that they were in favor of Finland joining NATO and that a decision would be announced on Sunday.

Through the voice of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russia replied by saying that it would be “obligated to take reciprocal military-technical and other measures to put an end to threats to its national security”.

border twice as long

The principle of collective defense is at the heart of the structure of NATO, which binds 30 countries and whose cornerstone is that an attack against one of the members is considered to be directed against all the parties.

However, if Finland joins NATO, the length of the mutual borders between the countries of the Alliance and Russia will suddenly double. Doesn’t this risk inflaming tempers?

“It’s true that it’s a challenge,” said Robert Baines, president of the Canadian NATO Association. But the structure of the Alliance makes it possible to meet this challenge. We have a group of nations ready and willing to defend themselves. You have to show it. It’s a deterrent. It can stop a war before it starts. It’s like a full hockey club walking into a bar. No one wants to fight that! »

NATO in the Baltic States

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged from a private meeting with his Latvian counterpart on Thursday with a promise to bolster Canada’s military presence by deploying more Canadian Armed Forces officers to the Baltic state. However, Mr. Trudeau did not grant Krišjānis Kariņš his main request, namely Canada’s clear support for the expansion of NATO’s permanent forces in Latvia and in the other Baltic countries, Lithuania and Estonia. Mr. Trudeau told reporters that the risks needed to be reassessed to know how much we had to stick together to protect ourselves from possible Russian aggression.

Quarrel over gas

The dispute over the delivery of Russian gas to Western Europe escalated on Thursday. The Russian giant Gazprom announced a 30% drop in volumes delivered in Europe (40% in Germany) compared to 18% on Wednesday. Whose fault is it ? Russia and Ukraine, where some of the Russian gas transits, accuse each other. Kyiv indicates that it cannot guarantee the passage of gas through the Sokhranivka facilities and is asking Gazprom to use another crossing point, in Soudja. Gazprom replies that this is impossible and that the facilities at Sokhranivka are adequate.

Cutting off the “energetic oxygen”

European Union countries are still debating the idea of ​​imposing an embargo on Russian gas, a plan that has yet to come to fruition due to their dependence. Passing through Berlin, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kouleba, declared that Europe had to cut off Russia’s “energetic oxygen” by ceasing to supply gas there. “Russia has shown that it is not a reliable partner, and Europe cannot allow itself”, under these conditions, to continue to deal with Moscow, indicated Mr Kouleba. According to a Bloomberg article based on figures from the International Energy Agency, Russia’s revenues from the sale of gas and oil have increased by 50% in 2022.

The Human Rights Council will investigate

In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council agreed to conduct an investigation into alleged abuses by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. A commission will be formed to investigate allegations of human rights violations in several Ukrainian cities. Moreover, the publication Thursday of a video dating back to March and showing Russian soldiers killing two unarmed Ukrainian civilians added to all the accusations of abuse brought against Russia.

In the field

On the ground, there are few changes in this 78^and conflict day. Russia claims to have hit two Ukrainian ammunition depots in the Chernihiv region. Kyiv indicates that the counter-offensive continues north of Kharviv. Several towns would have been taken over, including Pitomnik. On Telegram, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk, indicated that “difficult” negotiations were taking place with Moscow to evacuate 38 seriously injured soldiers from the ruins of the Azovstal steelworks.

With CNW, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg, The GuardianBloomberg, Franceinfo and The Canadian Press