NATO leaders say they will speed Finland and Sweden membership bids

The head of NATO said Sunday that the security bloc would grant fast-track membership to Sweden and Finland, raising the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who justified his invasion of Ukraine by what he cast as the need to keep the military alliance away from Russia’s borders.

“President Putin wants Ukraine defeated, NATO down, North America and Europe divided,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in Berlin after meeting the foreign ministers of the alliance’s members. “But Ukraine stands, NATO is stronger than ever, Europe and North America are solidly united.”

Both countries said their applications were imminent. Finland’s parliament is expected to ratify a NATO application Monday. And Sweden’s governing Social Democratic Party said Sunday it would vote in favour of joining NATO — all but guaranteeing that the Nordic nation would end 200 years of neutrality.

The possibility of NATO troops deploying along Russia’s 810-mile border with Finland comes as Putin is facing setbacks in the war he began in Ukraine nearly three months ago.

Ukrainian forces have advanced to near the Russian border in recent days after pushing Russian troops from the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. And evidence mounted Sunday that Russia’s offensive in the Donbas region farther east is faltering after initial modest gains.

Estimates based on publicly available evidence suggest that well over 400 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded as they tried to cross the Donets River at the village of Bilohorivka, in the eastern Luhansk region, in a bid to encircle Ukrainian forces. The debacle is likely to have been one of the bloodiest engagements since the start of the war, leading even influential pro-Russian bloggers to begin to voice concern, despite the Kremlin’s efforts to criminalise dissent.

“I’ve been keeping quiet for a long time,” Yuri Podolyaka, a war blogger with 2.1 million followers on Telegram, said in a video Friday, saying he had avoided criticising the Russian military.

“The last straw that overwhelmed my patience,” he said, “was the events around Bilohorivka, where due to stupidity — I emphasise, because of the stupidity of the Russian command — at least one battalion tactical group was burned, possibly two.”

British intelligence officials said Sunday that Russia had lost one-third of the ground forces it had committed to the Ukraine offensive. The rate of attrition, if confirmed, would make it extremely difficult for Russia to achieve a decisive victory, according to analysts.

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