KYIV —
Russian President Vladimir Putin
warned Finland and Sweden on Monday to expect a “response” for applying to join
NATO as Ukraine braced for a new push by Moscow’s forces in its eastern Donbas
region.
اضافة اعلان
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Monday
confirmed her country would apply to join the military alliance, the day after
Finland — which shares a 1,300km border with Russia — said the same.
The two Nordic countries are poised to give up
decades of military non-alignment over fears they could be next in line
following
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Russia, whose war has sparked global outrage, killed
thousands, and created millions of refugees, warned that NATO’s expansion would
have consequences.
The move poses “no direct threat for us... but the
expansion of military infrastructure to these territories will certainly
provoke our response”, Putin told a meeting of a Moscow-led security alliance.
Deputy Foreign Minister
Sergei Ryabkov had earlier
called it a “grave mistake with far-reaching consequences”.
Russia has already suspended electricity supplies to
Finland, citing payment issues.
But Finnish Prime Minister
Sanna Marin told
lawmakers: “Our security environment has fundamentally changed.
“The only country that threatens European security,
and is now openly waging a war of aggression, is Russia.”
Kharkiv battles
Despite the resources of its giant neighbor, Ukraine has managed to repel
Russian forces for longer than many initially expected, fortified by weapons
and cash from
Kyiv’s Western allies.
NATO on Sunday
promised open-ended support, with German Foreign Minister
Annalena Baerbock saying the alliance would provide military assistance “for as long as Ukraine
needs”.
Ukraine’s defense
ministry announced its troops had regained control of territory on the Russian
border near the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, which has been under
constant attack.
Since failing to
take the capital Kyiv in the early weeks of the war, Moscow is currently
focusing on
Donbas, near the Russian border and home to pro-Russian
separatists.
However, Western
intelligence has predicted its campaign will stall amid heavy losses and fierce
resistance.
“We are preparing
for new attempts by Russia to attack in Donbas, to somehow intensify its movement
in the south of Ukraine,” Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky said in his
nightly address Sunday.
Presidential
adviser Oleksiy Arestovich told local television Sunday that Russian troops
were being redeployed towards Donbas after withdrawing from Kharkiv.
They were being
sent towards Lugansk and “their task is to take Severodonetsk,” the easternmost
city still held by Ukraine.
The fall of
Severodonetsk would grant the Kremlin de facto control of Lugansk, one of two
regions — along with Donetsk — that comprise Donbas.
But Russia’s
attempt to cross a river to encircle it has been repelled with heavy losses of
equipment, while Russian-occupied railway bridges were blown up, Ukrainian
officials said.
Russia continued
strikes on the Lugansk region, south of Kharkiv, killing two people and
injuring nine during shelling of a Severodonetsk hospital, the Ukrainian
presidency said Monday.
EU meets on oil ban
Ukraine’s Western allies have imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on
Moscow to punish it for the invasion, but at the same time, European nations
continue to buy Russian oil and gas.
EU foreign
ministers met Monday in Brussels to discuss a proposed ban on Russian oil being
blocked by Hungary, which warned of the huge economic cost.
Portugal’s Foreign
Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho said it could take “a couple of weeks” to hammer
out agreement, a timescale that would take the debate up to the next full
summit of EU leaders.
The war meanwhile
is taking its toll on the continent’s growth. The European Commission sharply
cut its eurozone forecast for 2022 to 2.7 percent, blaming skyrocketing energy
prices.
Separately, French
automaker Renault has handed over its Russian assets to the
Russian government,
marking the first major nationalization since the onset of sanctions.
Renault controlled 68 percent of AvtoVAZ, the largest
carmaker in Russia with the country’s top brand Lada, but had been under
pressure to pull out of Russia following the invasion.
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