Russia has threatened Finland with a ‘military-technical’ response after its leaders announced their desire to join NATO ‘without delay’ under the influence of the war in Ukraine, while tension mounted around deliveries of Russian gas to Europe.
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Finland must formalize its candidacy for NATO this Sunday, before a decisive meeting of the ruling party in Sweden with a view to a probable joint application for membership of the two countries. “We hope to be able to send our applications this week, together with Sweden. They have their own process but I hope we will make the decisions at the same time,” Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Saturday.
Less than three months after the start of the war in Ukraine, the two countries are preparing to turn the page on military non-alignments dating back more than 75 years in Finland and dating back to the 19th century in Sweden.
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Russian pressure remains strong in eastern Ukraine, by kyiv’s own admission, confident of winning after Russian setbacks on the battlefield, and accompanied by a victory at Eurovision giving balm in the heart of the country at war. “The situation in the Donbass remains very difficult. Russian troops are trying to achieve at least one victory there,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged on Saturday. “Little by little, we are forcing the occupiers to leave our lands.”
Russian forces are trying to advance in this strategic region in the east, partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, and which Moscow has made its main objective since the withdrawal of its troops from around kyiv at the end of March.