Ukraine, Moscow: ‘Sweden and Finland in NATO an error with far-reaching consequences’ – World

The conflict in Ukraine continues as NATO opens its doors to Finland e Sweden. Meanwhile, a new video message from President Volodymyr arrives Zelensky which states that negotiations are underway to get people out of Mariupol, including Ukrainian fighters barricaded in the Azovstal steel plant. “We are continuing very difficult and delicate negotiations to save our people from Mariupol, from Azovstal. We deal with this on a daily basis. And the main thing is that the agreements are respected,” said the president. According to the commander of an internal forces unit of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, ten Azovstal fighters have surrendered but the Municipality of Mariupol has denied. Today at Brussels meeting of EU foreign ministers: the knot on the Russian oil embargo remains.

Putin’s war brings neutrality to an end

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BORN, FINLAND AND SWEDEN. THE REPLICA OF MOSCOW
The two Scandinavian countries are ready to put an end to the neutrality model after 70 years. The admission is a mistake with far-reaching consequences, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, reported by the Interfax agency. NATO “must not be under any illusions” that Russia can bear the accession of Sweden and Finland to the Alliance, Ryabkov added, quoted by the Interfax agency. “How we ensure our safety … will depend on the practical consequences” of the planned admission. The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO “will not strengthen” European security, argues the Kremlin.

“NATO expansion is artificial,” Russian President Vladimir said Putin quoted by the Russian agency Tass. “Russia has no problems with Finland and Sweden, their possible NATO membership does not create any threat to Moscow,” Putin added. “Russia’s response to Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership depends on how the alliance expands infrastructure, problems are created out of thin air.”

Sweden: ‘The Social Democratic Party is in favor of NATO membership’

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THE CONFLICT
Ten Ukrainian fighters stranded on the ground of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol would have surrendered to the forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). This was stated by Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of a unit of the internal forces of the DPR. “The first ten soldiers carrying white flags came out of a tunnel,” wrote Khodakovsky on Telegram quoted by the Russian agency Interfax. This morning the adviser of the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko denied the surrender of some fighters of the steel mill.
Russian missiles were fired on Mykolaiv in the morning, hitting a residential area of ​​the city. Ukrainska Pravda reports this and cites local official sources. The bombing, explains Mayor Alexander Senkevich, hit the Ingulsky neighborhood, causing a fire in a furniture store, a burnt car and shattering the windows of some residential buildings. According to the local emergency service, one person was injured.
Ukrainian forces blew up railway bridges between the cities of Rubizhne and Sievierodonetsk in the region of Lugansk (east) captured by the Russians: the news agency Ukrinform reports. According to the head of the Lugansk regional military administration, Serhii Gaidai, Kiev now controls 10% of the region’s territory.

Ukrainians destroy a bridge to stop the Russian advance in the Donbass

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New offensive operation of the Russian army in eastern Ukraine focusing on the direction of Donetsk and in the meantime it is concentrating regiments in the area of ​​the city of Izium: according to reports from the Ukrainian media, the Kiev General Staff writes. In the direction of Slobozhansky, the troops of Moscow are trying to block the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian units. The Kiev Armed Forces, according to the report, hit the Russians in the Chornobaivka area in the southern Kherson region, while some units of the Belarusian armed forces (up to seven battalions) continue to cover the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. Heading north, the Russians have tightened control over the Ukrainian-Russian border in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.
Missile attacks on the region of Odessa, even against a bridge over the Dniester estuary. Ukrainska Pravda reports this, citing local media, stating that in the attack, which damaged a recreation center, two wounded adults and a small child, who is serious, were injured. The Odessa authorities informed that as a result of a missile attack on the Odessa region by strategic aviation aircraft, tourist infrastructure was damaged, buildings were destroyed and a fire broke out. “The enemy continues to attack the damaged and non-functioning bridge over the Dniester estuary”, the city council said, adding that civilians were also affected: “2 adults were injured and a small child was seriously injured”.
The Kiev troops defending the eastern city of Kharkiv they have reached the border with Russia, Governor Oleh Sinegubov announced on Telegram quoted by the BBC. The broadcaster points out that it is not yet possible to verify the information of the governor, how many troops have reached the Russian border and where. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has published a video showing a number of soldiers from a territorial defense brigade in an unspecified place on the border. One of the soldiers says: “We have arrived, we are here”. The Ukrainian army has been driving Russian forces away from Kharkiv for days.