Blinken, in Turkey, urges speedy Nordics accession to NATO
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday Washington strongly supports Sweden and Finland’s quick NATO accession given steps they have already taken, even as his Turkish ...
Russia reports battlefield advances as Ukraine urges faster military aid
Russia said on Wednesday its troops had broken through two fortified lines of Ukrainian defences on the eastern front, as Kyiv demanded faster supplies of military aid from its allies ...
NATO allies weigh more arms for Ukraine (wrapup)
Russian forces bombarded front-line Ukrainian troops and towns in the eastern Donetsk region on Tuesday in what appeared to be early salvoes of a new offensive, as Western allies met ...
Russian forces bombard Ukraine’s Bakhmut as defenders brace for assault
The city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine endured heavy Russian artillery fire on Monday in an apparent prelude to a major new offensive as the first anniversary of the war ...
US Congress warns Turkey that F-16 sale depends on NATO approval
The U.S. Congress cannot support the $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until Ankara ratifies the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland, a bipartisan group of senators ...
Finland to stick with Sweden in NATO bid, hopes for green light by July
Finland is sticking to its plan to join NATO at the same time as Nordic neighbour Sweden, and hopes to do so no later than July, Finnish foreign minister Pekka ...
Turkey to reject Sweden’s NATO bid, may agree to Finland joining
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan signalled that Ankara may agree to Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden, amid growing tensions with Stockholm.
“We may deliver Finland a different message (on their ...
Finland says time-out needed in talks with Turkey over NATO bid
Finland’s foreign minister said that a pause of a few weeks was needed in Finland and Sweden’s talks with Turkey on their application to join the NATO military ...
Russia should exercise self-criticism says Anastasiades
Russia could not have expected Cyprus to disagree with Europe’s collective decisions and ought to engage in a little self-criticism, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Thursday.
Responding to statements ...
Finland hopes Turkish minister’s U.S. trip will boost its NATO membership bid
Finland said on Tuesday it hoped that Turkey’s foreign minister’s trip to the United States this week would bring positive impetus for it and Sweden’s bids to ...
2022: the year when history began again
Historians will judge 2022 a momentous year. If when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 it heralded the end of history, by that logic Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 ushered in ...
Turkey calls for more action from Sweden on extradition for NATO backing
Turkey’s foreign minister said on Thursday that Sweden has not yet acted to extradite or freeze the assets of people that his country believes are linked to terrorism, even ...
Turkey says it wants more extraditions from Sweden
Sweden’s extradition to Turkey last week of a Kurdish man with alleged terrorism links is a “good start”, but Stockholm needs to do more before Ankara can approve its ...
Russia’s Lavrov accuses NATO of fanning tensions in South China Sea
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday accused NATO of whipping up tensions near China in a way that posed risks for Russia.
“The South China Sea is now becoming ...
NATO vows to protect ‘fragile’ countries in Russia’s neighbourhood
NATO foreign ministers will on Wednesday seek to reassure fragile countries in Russia’s neighbourhood that they fear could be destabilised by Russia as the conflict in Ukraine drags on, ...
Sweden, Finland and Turkey have made progress on NATO membership, Sweden says
Sweden and Finland have made good progress towards an agreement with Turkey on the Nordic countries’ admission to NATO, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billstrom said.
“We had a ...
Nato’s vital defence dogma and its limits
There was panic in Nato capitals last week caused by an irrational fear that a Nato country had been attacked by Russia triggering article 5 of the Nato treaty. Two Russian ...
Sweden to spurn nuclear weapons as NATO member, foreign minister says
Sweden plans to declare nuclear weapons cannot be stationed on its territory when the country joins the Nato military alliance, following in the footsteps of its Nordic neighbors, the Swedish ...
Turkey’s Erdogan wants Swedish action on anti-terrorism for NATO bid approval
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Ankara conveyed its expectation to see concrete steps from Sweden to fulfil anti-terrorism obligations under a deal clearing bids by the Nordic ...
Swedish PM seeks Turkey’s approval for NATO bid in Erdogan talks
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will seek Turkey’s approval for his country’s bid to join NATO during talks on Tuesday in Ankara with President Tayyip Erdogan, who has ...
Germany ready for regular infrastructure protection drills in Estonia
Germany is ready to continue practice drills on protection of critical infrastructure in Estonia, the German military said on Monday, as a first such exercise dubbed “Baltic Tiger” was about ...
Russian nuclear strike likely to provoke ‘physical response,’ NATO official says
A Russian nuclear strike would change the course of the conflict and almost certainly provoke a “physical response” from Ukraine’s allies and potentially from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, ...
Germany urges NATO to do more to defend against Putin’s ‘delusions of grandeur’
NATO must do more to protect itself against Russia and President Vladimir Putin, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Saturday, because we “cannot know how far Putin’s delusions ...
Erdogan attacks Greece and Sweden at European Political Community
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday there was nothing worth discussing with Greece at the moment and, at the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community, he accused Athens ...