“This is the best thing for Sweden’s security. We will inform Nato that we want to become a member of the alliance," said Sweden’s prime minister Magdalena Andersson. (Henrik Montgomery/AP)Russia Ukraine War: Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced on Monday that Sweden will apply for membership in NATO in wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This historic shift comes after more than 200 years of military non-alignment in the Nordic country. Meanwhile the Finnish government on Sunday had confirmed its decision to join NATO. Russia has described the decision taken by the two governments as a serious mistake with far-reaching consequences.
The Ukrainian Military on Monday said that the Russian forces are focusing their latest attacks in Ukraine on the Donetsk region in the east, targeting civilian and military sites in multiple towns.
McDonald’s – a symbol of US lifestyle and capitalism – said on Monday that it has initiated a process to sell its business in Russia after more than 30 years of operating its restaurants in the country, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO and the United States said on Sunday they were confident Turkey would not hold up membership of Finland and Sweden in the Western military alliance, as the two Nordic states took firm steps to join in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has probably lost around a third of the ground forces it deployed to Ukraine and its offensive in the Donbas region “has lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule”, British military intelligence said on Sunday. “Despite small-scale initial advances, Russia has failed to achieve substantial territorial gains over the past month whilst sustaining consistently high levels of attrition,” the British defence ministry said on Twitter.
Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra returned to their homeland on Monday after an emotional Eurovision Song Contest victory, greeted at the border with Poland by servicemen and women whose cause the band had championed in Turin.
Frontman Oleh Psiuk was presented with a bouquet of yellow and blue flowers - the colours of Ukraine's flag - and reunited with his girlfriend before he and his band launched into an impromptu version of "Stefania," their winning song.
On Saturday, they had ridden a wave of popular support to win the annual songfest in the northern Italian city, giving their compatriots a much-needed morale boost after almost 12 weeks of war.
Ukrainian troops watching on television had hailed the win, with Psiuk making a plea for help at the end of the live performance for the besieged city of Mariupol and its Azovstal steelworks. (Reuters)
Russia said on Monday that it had agreed to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the bunkers below the besieged Azovstal steel works in Mariupol to a medical facility in the Russian-controlled town of Novoazovsk.
"An agreement has been reached on the removal of the wounded," the Moscow defence ministry said in a statement. "A humanitarian corridor has been opened through which wounded Ukrainian servicemen are being taken to a medical facility in Novoazovsk." (Reuters)
A senior US defense official said Monday that Russian long-range strikes near Lviv appeared to target the Ukrainian military training center in Yavoriv, which is less than 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the border with Poland.
The official said the US military assessment, at this point, is that there were as many as a half-dozen missiles fired and that a few small buildings were damaged.
There are no reports of casualties yet, the official said, adding that the missiles were fired from the Black Sea and likely came from a Russian submarine. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday he had discussed the need for financial support for Ukraine's economy with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
"The IMF is our important partner. We look forward to further fruitful joint work in maintaining financial stability of Ukraine," Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter. (Reuters)
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops near the country's second-largest city of Kharkiv to within 3 to 4 kilometers (1.9-2.5 miles) of the Russian border, a senior US defense official said on Monday. (Reuters)
President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that Russia would respond if NATO began to bolster the military infrastructure of Sweden and Finland which have both decided to join the US military alliance after the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, Putin said, had no problem with Finland or Sweden, so there was no direct threat from NATO enlargement which included those countries.
"But the expansion of military infrastructure into this territory would certainly provoke our response," Putin told the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
"What that (response) will be - we will see what threats are created for us," Putin said at the Grand Kremlin Palace. "Problems are being created for no reason at all. We shall react accordingly." (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 16, 2022. Alexander Nemenov/Pool via REUTERS
Sweden’s prime minister announced Monday that Sweden will join Finland in seeking NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The historic shift, which comes after more than 200 years of military nonalignment in the Nordic country, is likely to upset Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We will inform NATO that we want to become a member of the alliance,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.
The announcement came after a debate in Riksdagen, or Parliament, earlier Monday showed that there is a huge support for joining NATO. Out of Sweden’s eight parties, only two smaller left-leaning parties opposed it. (AP)
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson talks during the parliamentary debate on the Swedish application for NATO membership, in Stockholm, Monday, May 16, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday urged other members of a Russian-dominated military alliance to stand united, and accused the West of hoping to prolong the conflict in Ukraine to try to weaken Russia as much as possible.
Lukashenko, speaking at a summit of the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in Moscow, said 'hellish sanctions' against his country and Russia could have been avoided if the group had spoken with one voice.
'Without a united front, the collective West will build up pressure on the post-Soviet space,' Lukashenko said in televised opening remarks, addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has replaced the head of its Territorial Defence Forces nearly three months into the war with Russia without giving a reason.
The Defence Ministry said on Monday Zelenskiy had appointed Major General Ihor Tantsyura to take over from Yuriy Halushkin as commander of the forces that are helping the Ukrainian army defend the country following Russia's invasion on Feb 24. The ministry described Tantsyura as an experienced officer who was previously chief of staff of Ukraine's ground forces.
It said the Territorial Defence Forces had grown rapidly since being established shortly before the invasion and were playing an important role in the conflict with Russia. (Reuters)
Ukrainian troops counter-attacking against Russian forces in the country's northeast have pushed them back from the city of Kharkiv and advanced as far as the border with Russia, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.
The developments, if confirmed, would signal a further shift in momentum in favour of Ukrainian forces nearly three months into a conflict that began when Russia sent tens of thousands of troops over the border into Ukraine on Feb 24.
Fighting was reported near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, on Monday in what interior ministry adviser Vadym Denisenko said was "our counter-offensive".Kharkiv, lying about 30 miles (50 km) from the border with Russia, had endured weeks of heavy bombardments from Russian artillery. The Russians' routing from there follows their failure to capture the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the war. (Reuters)
Ukrainian troops stand at the Ukraine-Russia border in what was said to be the Kharkiv region, Ukraine in this screen grab obtained from a video released on May 15, 2022. Ukrainian Ministry of Defence/Handout via REUTERS
Ukrainian border guards repelled an incursion by a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group in the northeastern region of Sumy on Monday, the governor of the Sumy region said.
Dmytro Zhyvytsky wrote on the Telegram messaging app that the Russian group entered Ukrainian territory under the cover of mortar shells, grenades and machine gun fire but retreated after the border guards fought back. (Reuters)
Russia said on Monday that the West should have no illusions that Moscow will simply put up with the Nordic expansion of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance to include Sweden and Finland, casting the move as a mistake that would stoke military tension.
Vladimir Putin, Russia's paramount leader since the last day of 1999, has repeatedly cited the post-Soviet enlargement of the NATO alliance eastwards towards Russia's borders as a reason for the invasion of Ukraine.
"They should have no illusions that we will simply put up with it - and nor should Brussels, Washington and other NATO capitals," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the state RIA news agency. (Reuters)
McDonald's Corp said on Monday it had initiated a process to sell its business in Russia after 30 years of operating its restaurants in the country, following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
In March, McDonald's closed all its restaurants in Russia including its iconic Pushkin Square location. As part of the exit, the company expects to record a non-cash charge of about $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion.
"The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment, have led McDonald's to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable," McDonald's said. (Reuters)
A Ukrainian military commander in the eastern Luhansk region says strikes overnight hit a hospital in Severodonetsk, killing two and injuring nine, including a child. Overnight strikes also hit other towns.
Regional military governor Serhiy Haidai said on Monday that Ukrainian special forces blew up Russian-held railway bridges between Rubizhne and Severodonetsk as part of efforts to slow the Russian offensive, and posted a video on Telegram purportedly showing such a blast. The information could not immediately be independently verified.
Russian forces have been trying for weeks to seize Severodonetsk, a key site in the Donbas that’s outside the territory that separatists held for the past several years. (AP)
Russian forces focused their latest attacks in Ukraine on the Donetsk region in the east, targeting civilian and military sites in multiple towns, the Ukrainian military said Monday.
The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Russia’s military also continued air and artillery strikes around the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the strategic city.
In the Donetsk region, it said Russian forces used a range of weaponry on Ukrainian military fortifications and units and fired artillery at civilian infrastructure in the towns of Dovhenke, Ruski Tyshki, Ternova and Petrivka. (AP)
Almost three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military faces a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger NATO, and an opponent buoyed Sunday by wins on and off the battlefield.
Top diplomats from NATO met in Berlin with the alliance’s chief, who declared that the war “is not going as Moscow had planned.”
“Ukraine can win this war,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that the alliance must continue to offer military support to Kyiv. He spoke by video link to the meeting as he recovers from a COVID-19 infection. Read More
NATO and the United States said on Sunday they were confident Turkey would not hold up membership of Finland and Sweden in the Western military alliance, as the two Nordic states took firm steps to join in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply to join NATO, while Sweden's ruling Social Democrats announced an official policy change that would pave the way for their country to apply within days.
"Today the Swedish Social Democratic Party took a historic decision to say yes to apply for a membership in the NATO defence alliance," tweeted Sweden's foreign minister, Ann Linde. "The Russian invasion of Ukraine has deteriorated the security situation for Sweden and Europe as a whole."
Turkey, which had surprised its allies in recent days by saying it had reservations about Finnish and Swedish membership, laid out its demands on Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers in Berlin. Ankara said it wanted the Nordic countries to halt support for Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, and lift bans on some sales of arms to Turkey. (Reuters)
Sweden's ruling Social Democrats said on Sunday they backed the country joining NATO, abandoning decades of opposition in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and creating a large parliament majority in favour of membership.
With neighboring Finland already set to hand in its application, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is now all but certain to launch a formal application within days. "The party board has at its meeting on May 15, 2022 decided that the party will work toward Sweden applying for membership in NATO," the Social Democrats said in a statement.
Joining NATO was a distant prospect just months ago, but Russia's attack on Ukraine has prompted both Sweden and Finland to rethink their security needs and seek safety in an alliance they stood apart from during the long Cold War. (Reuters)
Turkey's foreign minister said on Sunday that Sweden and Finland must stop supporting terrorist groups in their countries, provide clear security guarantees and lift export bans on Turkey as they seek membership in NATO.
Speaking after a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Berlin, Mevlut Cavusoglu said he met his Swedish and Finnish counterparts and all were seeking to address Turkey's concerns. He added that Turkey was not threatening anybody or seeking leverage but speaking out especially about Sweden's support for the PKK Kurdish militant group, deemed a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Finland confirmed on Sunday that it would apply for NATO membership and Sweden is expected to follow suit, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However Turkey's concerns may pose an obstacle, as any decision on NATO enlargement requires unanimous approval by all 30 member states. (Reuters)
Russia's offensive in Ukraine is failing and its operation in the Donbass region has stalled, NATO's secretary general said on Sunday.
"Russia's war in Ukraine is not going as Moscow had planned. They failed to take Kyiv," Jens Stoltenberg told reporters by video link. "They are pulling back from Kharkiv and their major offensive in Donbass has stalled." (Reuters)
Russia said on Sunday it had pummelled Ukrainian positions in the east with missiles, targeting command centres and arsenals as its forces seek to encircle Ukrainian army units in the battle for Donbas.
Nearly three months since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Russian-backed forces are still in control of an area of Ukraine about the size of Greece along the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea and in Ukraine's east bordering Russia. Russian forces have been driven out of the area around the city of Kharkiv in the northeast in the past two weeks, their most rapid losses since being expelled from areas around Kyiv and the north of Ukraine at the start of April.
Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014, is trying to capture two eastern provinces known as the Donbas. Its forces have been pushing down from the city of Izium south of Kharkiv in an attempt to surround Ukrainian forces between Izium and Russian-controlled territory around the city of Donetsk. (Reuters)
NATO is confident that it can overcome objections by Turkey and quickly admit Finland and Sweden, its deputy chief said on Sunday, as the alliance prepares for a historic enlargement in the Nordic region prompted by Russia's war on Ukraine.
Foreign ministers from NATO's 30 member states are holding two days of talks this weekend in Berlin that are focused on the two Nordic countries' membership bids. Their formal application to join NATO is expected within days.
However on Saturday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu unexpectedly raised objections, saying it was "unacceptable and outrageous" that the prospective new NATO members gave support to the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK. It was not immediately clear whether discussions between Cavusoglu and several NATO foreign ministers as well as their Finnish and Swedish counterparts later in the evening had yielded any progress in resolving the dispute. (Reuters)
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply for membership of the NATO military alliance.
The announcement came after Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Thursday they both favoured NATO membership, in a major policy shift prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia, which shares a long land border with Finland, has said it would be a mistake for Helsinki to join the transatlantic alliance and that it would harm bilateral ties. (Reuters)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Sunday he had met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Berlin and that 'more weapons and other aid is on the way to Ukraine'.
'We agreed to work closely together to ensure that Ukrainian food exports reach consumers in Africa and Asia. Grateful to Secretary Blinken and the US for their leadership and unwavering support,' Kuleba tweeted. Kuleba was due to brief NATO foreign ministers meeting in Berlin on Sunday on the situation on the ground in Ukraine and on how the alliance can further help the country as it battles invading Russian forces for a 12th week. (Reuters)
Following the Russia's invasion of Ukraine leading to soaring oil prices, Saudi Aramco said on Sunday that its profits soared more than 80 per cent in the first three months of the year. The bumper first-quarter earnings by the firm formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co show a record net income of $39.5 billion, up from $21.7 billion during the same period last year.
The figure marks the oil group's highest quarterly profit since 2019, when the Saudi government, which owns 98% of the company, listed a sliver of its worth on Riyadh's Tadawul stock exchange. In a statement, Aramco's chief executive appeared to suggest that the disruption from the war in Ukraine had underscored the vital role of oil and gas companies like Aramco. (AP)
One person was wounded when forces in Ukraine fired at a Russian village close to the border, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app early on Sunday. (Reuters)
The Group of Seven leading economies warned Saturday that the war in Ukraine is stoking a global food and energy crisis which threatens poor countries, and urgent measures are needed to unblock stores of grain that Russia is preventing from leaving Ukraine.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who hosted a meeting of top G-7 diplomats, said the war had become a “global crisis.”
The G-7 nations also called on China not to help Russia, including by undermining international sanctions or justifying Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Beijing should support the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, and not “assist Russia in its war of aggression,” they said. (AP)
A strike hit Ukraine's military infrastructure in Lviv region early Sunday. There is no information on casualties yet, the region's governor said. (Reuters)
Russian troops were withdrawing from around Ukraine’s second-largest city after bombarding it for weeks, the Ukrainian military said Saturday, as Kyiv and Moscow’s forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland.
Ukraine’s military said the Russian forces were pulling back from the northeastern city of Kharkiv and focusing on guarding supply routes, while launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern province of Donetsk in order to “deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications.” (AP)
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and a delegation of GOP senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv during an unannounced visit Saturday, delivering the latest show of American solidarity with the country at war with Russia. “Our delegation reaffirmed to President Zelenskyy that the United States stands squarely behind Ukraine and will sustain our support until Ukraine wins this war,” McConnell said, according to news agency Reuters.