Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and a delegation of GOP senators are due to visit Helsinki on Monday for talks with Finland’s president as the previously neutral Nordic nation bordering Russia seeks NATO membership. Meanwhile, Finland will apply for membership in the NATO military alliance, the country’s president, Sauli Niinisto, confirmed on Sunday, in a historic policy shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest in the early hours of Sunday in a clear show of popular support for the war-ravaged nation that went beyond music.
Russian troops are withdrawing from around Ukraine’s second-largest city after bombarding it for weeks, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday, as Kyiv and Moscow’s forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland.
The conflict began escalating on February 21, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised separatist regions in eastern Ukraine and deployed troops in a peacekeeping role.
Read more news on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis here.
Ukraine
Ukraine restarts gas distribution stations, supplies in Kharkiv
Ukraine’s gas transit system operator said over the weekend that it had resumed operations at two distribution stations in the Kharkiv region and restarted gas supply to more than 3,000 consumers.
Ukraine has scored a series of successes since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, forcing Moscow’s commanders to abandon an advance on the capital Kyiv before making rapid gains to drive them from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city. -Reuters
International
NATO assures Ukraine open-ended military support against Russia
NATO on Sunday pledged open-ended military support for Ukraine, as Finland hailed its “historic” bid to join the alliance and with Western claims that Russia had suffered heavy losses in its push east.
The promise came after Finland jettisoned decades of military non-alignment for a bulwark against Russia, redrawing the balance of power in Europe and angering the Kremlin. -AFP
Russia
Medvedev ready to play Wimbledon if ban reversed
World number two Daniil Medvedev insisted Sunday he was ready to play at Wimbledon if the All England Club reverses its ban on Russian players but accepted it was a “tricky situation”.
Medvedev, who is returning to the tour at this week’s Geneva Open following a hernia operation, said the Roland Garros warm-up tournament was his first chance to talk with other players about the ban, which was announced on April 20. -AFP
Sweden
Sweden’s ruling party backs joining NATO, paving way for bid
Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats said on Sunday they backed the country joining NATO, abandoning decades of opposition in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and creating a large parliamentary majority in favour of membership. -Reuters
