NATO membership would strengthen Nordic defence, says Swedish defense minister
The defense capabilities of the Nordic region would be enhanced if Sweden and Finland joined NATO, enabling joint defense planning within the framework of the alliance, Sweden’s defense minister told Swedish radio on Tuesday.
“(If Sweden and Finland join NATO), it will mean that we use each other’s strengths and advantages, that we fully complement each other and that we also carry out operational planning,” the minister said. of Defense Peter Hultqvist of the ruling Social Democrats. “If so, the effect will be that we will become stronger together. This is something that can happen if we choose to join NATO,” he told the public broadcaster.
The Social Democrats will decide on May 15 whether to drop decades of party opposition to NATO membership, a move that would almost certainly lead to Sweden applying to join the 30-nation alliance.
Putin unable to claim military success because Russia misjudged Ukrainian resistance, UK says
Russian President Vladimir Putin was unable to announce any significant military success at yesterday’s VE Day parade because the Kremlin miscalculated Ukrainian resistance and was guilty of planning the “best case scenario”, the UK Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.
In its intelligence update, the ministry said it is very likely that Russia’s invasion plan was based on underestimating the Ukrainian resistance so that it could quickly surround and bypass the centers of population, achieving rapid success without lethal cost.
“This assumption led Russian forces to attempt to carry out the opening phase of the operation with a light and precise approach intended to achieve a quick victory at minimal cost.”
Due to this miscalculation, Russia is suffering unsustainable losses that have forced it to reduce and refocus its operational activities, according to the Defense Ministry.
Macron and Scholz visit the Brandenburg Gate
Bulletproof vests and blocked ports: Ukrainian farmers continue in the midst of war
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — The price of sunflower oil is skyrocketing around the world, but Roman Tarasevich is stuck with a mountain of sunflower seeds he just can’t move.
Ukraine is the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil, but the Russian invasion has made farming, production and shipping virtually impossible, driving up global prices and buyers from London to New Delhi scrambling for limited bottles of the golden liquid commonly used for cooking.
“We will definitely take a financial hit, but right now I just don’t want to think about it and we keep working,” said Tarasevich, 46, standing by the pile of unsold sunflower seeds at an agricultural warehouse in Zaporizhzhia, eastern Ukraine.
He seemed pained as he described how he saved last year’s crop to negotiate a higher price, but like many Ukrainians he was taken by surprise by the Russian invasion. Since then, ports have been blocked, fuel is scarce and insurance premiums are exorbitant.
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44 bodies discovered under rubble in Izyum during strike in March
The bodies of 44 civilians were found under the rubble of a five-storey building in Izyum, about 120 km southeast of Kharkiv, the region’s governor announced on Tuesday.
The building was destroyed in March, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said in the Telegram post.
The town was besieged by Russian forces early in the conflict, with officials warning in mid-March that residents were dying from lack of food, medicine and other essential supplies. It has since been occupied by Russian forces and used as a key staging point for their offensive operations.
Missiles hit Odessa shopping center, Ukrainian military says
A line of trucks stretches for miles at the Ukrainian border
Odessa cleans up after Russia fires seven missiles at Black Sea port city
Russian forces fired seven missiles at the Black Sea port city of Odessa early Tuesday, hitting a shopping mall and a warehouse, according to the Ukrainian military.
At least one person was killed and five injured, according to the country’s state emergency services. Photos posted to the city’s Telegram account showed charred buildings, largely reduced to steel and concrete structures, and rubble strewn across a parking lot. City employees provided assistance to victims and removed debris throughout the night, the Odessa city council said in a message on Telegram.
“The enemy’s missile reserves are obviously low, as the few Soviet-style missiles have been launched and are showing their age,” Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command said in a Facebook post.
Ukrainian Zelenskyy says ports are blocked due to Russian blockade
Nearly 6,000 Ukrainians allowed to enter the United States
The Department of Homeland Security has allowed nearly 6,000 Ukrainians to enter the United States through an online application system that allows them to obtain legal clearance to fly to US airports and then stay with Americans who have agreed to sponsor them, the agency said Monday.
The online portal, known as Uniting for Ukraine, was launched on April 25 as part of President Joe Biden’s stated goal of bringing 100,000 people fleeing Russia’s deadly invasion to the United States. United.
The launch of the website meant the closure of a popular but dangerous and illegal route that many Ukrainians had taken via the US-Mexico border, where, after entering Mexico on tourist visas, they were transported from camps in Tijuana to California. After April 25, US Border Patrol agents began turning away Ukrainians attempting to cross the southern border.
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Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States will meet with Republican MPs
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States is expected to meet Republican lawmakers as Congress weighs an aid package for the beleaguered nation was uncertain.
Oksana Makarova was scheduled to attend lunch with Senate Republicans on Tuesday afternoon, two sources with knowledge of the event told NBC News.
As his country continues to push back against the Russian invasion, congressional Democrats are proposing a $40 billion aid package to bolster Ukraine’s military and humanitarian resources. That would be better than the $33 billion package offered by President Joe Biden’s administration.
The House is due to consider the bill on Tuesday afternoon.
Biden urges Congress to pass Ukraine aid ‘immediately’, putting Covid funds on hold
President Joe Biden urges Congress to quickly pass aid to Ukraine as part of a decision that would prioritize aid to Kyiv over new Covid relief funding for the US
“I call on Congress to immediately pass the Ukrainian supplemental funding bill and deliver it to my desk in the coming days,” Biden said in a statement Monday.
Biden and Democratic leaders had hoped to move a coronavirus aid package alongside aid to Ukraine, using Ukrainian aid as leverage to secure additional Covid funding, but Republicans balked, saying that they would not approve new funds to fight the pandemic without a vote on the president. decision to end a Trump-era border policy known as Title 42.
That left Biden and Democratic leaders no choice but to separate the two packages.
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