(AP) — The Kremlin warned it may take retaliatory “military-technical” steps after Finland’s leaders said they favor joining NATO, and Sweden could do the same within days, in a historic realignment triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the first war-crimes trial of a Russian soldier since the start of the conflict was set to open Friday in Kyiv. A 21-year-old captured member of a tank unit is accused of shooting to death a civilian in the war’s first week.
On the ground, Russian forces were pounding areas in central, northern and eastern Ukraine, including the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol, as part of their offensive to take the industrial Donbas region. Ukraine recaptured some towns and villages in the northeast.
Two and a half months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow’s neighbors, Finland’s president and prime minister announced Thursday that the Nordic country should apply right away for membership in NATO, the military defense pact founded in part to counter the Soviet Union.“You (Russia) caused this. Look in the mirror,” said Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
Finland’s Parliament still has to weigh in, but the announcement means it is all but certain to apply — and gain admission. The process could take months to complete. Sweden, likewise, is considering putting itself under NATO’s protection.That would represent a major change in Europe’s security landscape: Sweden has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, while Finland adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in World War II.
Public opinion in both nations shifted dramatically in favor of NATO membership after the invasion, which stirred fears in countries along Russia’s flank that they could be next.
Such an expansion of the alliance would leave Russia surrounded by NATO countries in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic and would amount to a stinging setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He had hoped to divide and roll back NATO in Europe but is instead seeing the opposite happen.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance would welcome Finland and Sweden with open arms.
