Russia strikes Ukraine’s east as Finland inches closer to joining NATO
The Hindu
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s response will depend on specific steps taken by NATO to bring its infrastructure closer to Russian borders
Russia pounded areas in Ukraine’s east on May 12, including the last pocket of resistance in besieged Mariupol, as the war pushed Finland closer to ending decades of neutrality and seeking NATO membership.
The conflict on the ground slogged on even as the globe-shaking repercussions of the invasion spread, with Ukraine’s military recapturing some towns and villages in the country’s northeast but acknowledging that Russian forces have seen “partial success” farther south in the eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas.
Finland’s president and prime minister today said that the Nordic country should apply “without delay” for membership in the Western alliance, founded in part to counter the Soviet Union. The announcement means Finland is all but certain to join the military alliance, though a few steps remain before the application process can begin. Neighbouring Sweden is expected to decide on joining NATO within days.
Russia said the move would not help stability and security in Europe. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s response would depend on what specific steps NATO took to bring its infrastructure closer to Russian borders. Finland and Russia share a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) land border.
NATO’s support of Ukraine — particularly by supplying weapons — has been critical to Kyiv’s surprising success in stymieing Russia’s invasion, which began on February 24. Many observers thought Moscow’s larger and better-armed military would be hard to stop, but the Ukrainians have bogged Russian troops down and thwarted their goal of overrunning the capital.
Still, the war has unleashed staggering destruction, killed thousands and forced millions from their homes, while shattering Europe’s sense of post-Cold War stability. It has prompted NATO to send troops and weapons to fortify the alliance’s eastern frontier and led Sweden and Finland to reconsider longstanding opposition to joining the trans-Atlantic alliance, whose members are committed to mutual defense.
In Mariupol, which has seen some of the worst destruction of the war, Ukraine offered to release Russian prisoners of war in exchange for the safe evacuation of badly wounded fighters trapped inside the Azovstal steel mill, the last redoubt of Ukrainian forces in the ruined city.
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