Sweden joins Finland in seeking to join Nato
EUROPE has pushed to toughen its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Sweden following Finland in deciding to seek Nato membership and European Union officials working to rescue proposed sanctions that would target Russian oil exports helping to finance the war.
On the ground, Ukrainian troops resisted attempted Russian advances and have even rolled back front lines. In a small but symbolic boost for Ukrainian morale, a patrol of soldiers recorded a triumphant video of their push right up to the Russian border in Kharkiv province.
Ukrainian forces have already driven Russian troops back from the provincial capital, Kharkiv, reducing their ability to hit the battered city with artillery.
As fighting raged, international efforts to respond to Russia’s aggression continued to pick up pace.
Swedish officials yesterday announced their intention to seek Nato membership, following a similar decision on Sunday from neighbouring Finland. They are seismic developments for the Scandinavian countries that have traditionally positioned themselves as militarily “non-aligned”.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has looked grimly upon the alliance’s post-Cold War expansion in eastern Europe, seeing it as a threat, but, if the invasion was meant as a check on Nato, it appears to have backfired – by driving Sweden and Finland into Nato’s arms and pushing members of the alliance to send massive shipments of weapons to Ukraine.
Yet the Russian leader seemed to brush off that setback yesterday, saying “there is no direct threat to Russia created by the expansion involving these countries”. Mr Putin added: “But the expansion of military infrastructure on to this territory will of course give rise to our reaction in response.”
Nato’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, has said the membership process for both Finland and Sweden could be very quick – though member Turkey has cast doubts over the move.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that joining the 30-member military alliance was her country’s best defence in the face of Russian behaviour.
“Unfortunately, we have no reason to believe that the trend [of Russia’s actions] will reverse in the foreseeable future,” she said.
As well as sending military aid to Ukraine, Europe is also working to choke off funding for the Kremlin’s war, by reducing the billions of dollars it spends on imports of Russian energy, but a proposed EU embargo on imports of Russian oil faces opposition from a small group of countries led by Hungary, which is one of a number of landlocked countries that are highly dependent on the imports, along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Bulgaria also has reservations.
“We will do our best in order to deblock the situation,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said yesterday. “I cannot ensure that it is going to happen because positions are quite strong.”
In a symbolic boost on the battleground, a Ukrainian patrol in Kharkiv province reached the Russian border and made a victorious video there, addressed to President Volodymyr Zelensky. The video was posted on Facebook on Sunday by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence. It was not clear exactly where it was filmed.