Membership of NATO | The “error” of Finland and Sweden, according to Moscow

In the aftermath of Finland, Sweden confirmed on Monday its desire to join NATO. “It’s the best thing to do for the security of Sweden and its people,” said Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

Marie-Claude Malboeuf
The Press

In Finland, where parliament has begun to debate the issue, Prime Minister Sanna Marin has argued that the “security environment [de son pays] has fundamentally changed.

Russia was quick to criticize the decision of its two neighbors. It constitutes “a mistake” with “considerable consequences”, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday, quoted by the national news agency TASS.

The entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO does not constitute an immediate threat, for his part declared the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in front of the leaders of a military alliance of former Soviet states.

But the deployment of military infrastructure on their territories “would require a reaction from Moscow”, he said. “We will see what it will be depending on the threats that will be created for us. »

Putin has repeatedly argued that he invaded Ukraine because NATO was expanding towards Russia’s border.

Several countries have promised to support Finland and Sweden in the event of reprisals, including the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. On Monday, Norway, Denmark and Iceland did the same in a joint statement.

No country can join NATO unless its 30 current members have this decision ratified by their respective parliaments.

The majority of them were in favor of the accession of Finland and Sweden. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on the contrary, said Monday that a visit by their delegations will not convince him to approve their membership, because he believes that they are harboring terrorists hostile to Turkey.

Loans and grants

Ukraine could receive cheap loans and grants from Europe – and possibly the proceeds of assets seized from Russian oligarchs – to finance the reconstruction of its destroyed infrastructure. The exercise will cost hundreds of billions of euros and take more than a decade, according to a European Commission plan obtained by The Guardian.

The document states that Ukraine will need “significant short-term financial assistance to maintain basic services”, provide humanitarian aid and repair essential facilities.

Ukraine has also requested economic support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a tweet on Monday.

Evacuations and bombardment

More than 260 out of 1,000 Ukrainian fighters, including 53 seriously injured, have been evacuated from the underground maze of the Azovstal steelworks in the devastated port city of Mariupol, AFP reports.

They were taken to localities controlled by Russian and pro-Russian forces and will later be “exchanged”, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar announced in a video.

Earlier, the garrison of fighters had announced on social networks that they had “carried out the order” of the Ukrainian military command “in order to save lives” and “hoped for the support of the Ukrainian people”.

Hundreds of wounded would remain besieged.

The Ukrainian army has also regained control of part of the border with Russia in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday. Ukrainian soldiers moved there after pushing out the Russians, who are now moving towards Luhansk, slightly further east. They want to seize the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, which has been almost surrounded since May 6.

Powerful missile strikes have killed at least 10 people since the weekend and destroyed several sites, including a hospital, according to local authorities. The shelling continues, including in residential areas.

“Moral Failure”

If the European Union does not approve Ukraine’s candidacy by June, “it will be a moral failure which cannot be tolerated and which will be judged by history”, the Ukrainian foreign minister said on Monday. , Dmytro Kuleba.

Then in an interview with Bloomberg Television, the minister also ruled out making an offer to Vladimir Putin in exchange for the end of his invasion. Ukraine, he said, wants to restore its full territorial integrity, including the areas of Donbass and the Crimean peninsula, which it has not controlled for years. “We want everything that belongs to us to be ours,” he said.

With Agence France-Presse, Reuters, The Guardian