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☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia claims Kyiv attacked 3 nuclear power plants; Putin says post-Soviet space is being weakened
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN - OCTOBER 13 Russian President Vladimir Putin speeches during his press conference at the Commonwealth of Independent States's Head of States Meeting at the Ala-Archa State Residence, October 13,2023, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that a number of countries are acting in a way that is "directly aimed" at weakening power the post-Soviet space. Russia called on the CIS, a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia, to beef up collective security. Putin said Russia and its neighbors faced common threats of terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal migration, as well as radicalism and extremism. The CIS includes Russia and former Soviet republics including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, formely Pishpek, Putin, Holly Ellyatt Organizations: Commonwealth, Independent, Indendent, CIS, Commonwealth of Independent States, RIA Novosti, EU, Georgia Locations: BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, formely, Frunze, Central Asia, Commonwealth, Russian, Moscow, Russia, Eurasia, Soviet, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Baltic, Moldova, Ukraine

☆ Life in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia oblast, from an expert who just visited the front lines
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Ukrainian soldiers, go away." And there were Ukrainian soldiers chit-chatting with the older ladies there buying food. I spoke with Ukrainian soldiers in Zaporizhzhia. The same set of Ukrainian soldiers that's been serving has been serving for more than 600 days. When you talk to actual Ukrainians, they're not getting caught up in, "Is it Crimea?

Persons: Melinda Haring, Haring, —, It's, There's, Mykola Vinnichenko, Andrey Liscovich, it's, They're flinty, haven't, that's, there's, they're, What's, would've, I'm, Nobody, we've, Putin, let's, He'll, he'll, — you've, you've, Ukraine —, We're, They're Organizations: Atlantic Council, Service, Eurasia Center, Ukraine doesn't, NATO, CNN Locations: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Orikhiv, Kyiv, Orkihiv, Washington, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, There's, Crimea, Russia, Poland, Baltic, United States, NATO, Taiwan

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland and Estonia said Sunday that the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline running between the two countries across the Baltic Sea was temporarily taken out of service due to a suspected leak. Gasgrid Finland and Elering, the Finnish and Estonian gas system operators, said they noted an unusual drop in pressure in the pipeline shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, after which they shut down the gas flow. “Based on observations, it was suspected that the offshore pipeline between Finland and Estonia was leaking,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement. After the shutdown of Balticconnector, gas for Estonian consumers was coming from Latvia, it said. The pipeline is bi-directional, transferring natural gas between Finland and Estonia depending on demand and supply.

Persons: Elering, Kai Mykkänen, “, ” Organizations: HELSINKI, —, Sunday, Nord, Nordic, European Union, NATO, Moscow Locations: — Finland, Estonia, Baltic, Finland, Estonian, Germany, Russia, Inkoo, Latvia, Paldiski, Lithuania, Ukraine

Nearly $100 billion in military aid to UkraineIndividual countries around the world have committed nearly $100 billion in direct military assistance to Ukraine. The US Congress has approved around $46.6 billion in direct military aid to Ukraine since NATO countries began organizing support for Ukraine a month before the full-scale invasion, data shows. This is part of a total $113 billion aid budget for both defense and civilian needs – though not all of it is meant to go directly to Ukraine. The United Kingdom has pledged more than $7 billion in direct military aid. Around 78% of Poland’s direct support for Ukraine goes to refugee costs – $17 billion out of nearly $22 billion.

Persons: CNN —, that’s, –, Kevin McCarthy, Joshua Berlinger Organizations: CNN, Ukraine, Republicans, Kiel Institute, NATO, Union, European Union, Russia —, Latvia —, United Nations, UN, US Locations: Ukraine, United States, Russia, Germany, Denmark, Poland, United Kingdom, Kiel, Norway, Baltic, Russia — Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia

According to preliminary results released by Slovakia’s Statistical Office at 6 a.m. local time, Robert Fico’s populist SMER party won 23.3% of the vote. While in opposition, Fico became a close ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban, especially when it came to criticism of the European Union. Fico previously served as Slovakia’s prime minister for more than a decade, first between 2006 and 2010 and then again from 2012 to 2018. Kuciak reported on corruption among the country’s elite, including people directly connected to Fico and his party SMER. In the Czech Republic, which used to form one country with Slovakia, 71% of people blame Russia for the war.

Persons: Robert Fico’s, Fico, upend, Peter Pellegrini, Hlas, ”, Pellegrini, Slovakia “, “, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Victor Orban, Orban, Jan Kuciak, Martina Kušnírová, Kuciak, Věra Jourová, GlobSec, – Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, NATO, Slovakia’s, SMER, Progressive, Ukrainian, Ukraine, European Union, Russia, Hungary’s, European, Justice, Kyiv Locations: Slovakia, Ukraine, Progressive Slovakia, Slovak, Kyiv, Brussels, Russia, Bratislava, Baltic, Czech Republic, States

☆ Slovak election: A NATO country could soon have a pro-Russian leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Fico previously served as Slovakia’s prime minister for more than a decade, first between 2006 and 2010 and then again from 2012 to 2018. Heger continued as a caretaker prime minister but he, too, ended up quitting in May and was replaced by a technocrat, Ludovit Odor. Eduard Heger, pictured in Tallinn, Estonia, in November 2022, resigned as caretaker prime minister in May. In the Czech Republic, which used to form one country with Slovakia, 71% of people blame Russia for the war. “The government took a very quick and firm decision — and I’d say in doing so found itself on the right side of the history — to support Ukraine,” he said.

Persons: Robert Fico’s, Kyiv’s, “, ”, Vladimir Putin, Putin, Fico, Grigorij, Jan Kuciak, Martina Kušnírová, Kuciak, Igor Matovič, Matovič, Eduard Heger, Heger, Ints Kalnins, ” Mesežnikov, “ SMER, GlobSec, —, Dominika Hajdu, Mesežnikov Organizations: CNN, Kremlin, NATO, Institute of Public Affairs, Voters, Independent, Republika, for Democracy, Resilience, Austro, Ukraine, “, it’s, European Union Locations: Slovakia, Russia, Ukraine, Slovak, Moscow, SMER, Tallinn, Estonia, ” Slovakia, Bratislava, Baltic, Czech Republic, States, Hungary, Trianon, “ Slovakia

The entire world has a vested interest in helping defeat the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, casting his appeal for more allies and aid as a matter of security — even survival — for many other nations. Delivering one of the most anticipated speeches of the annual gathering of world leaders, Mr. Zelensky painted Russia as a habitual aggressor, citing Moscow’s military interventions in Moldova, Georgia and Syria, its increased control over Belarus and its threats against the Baltic States. “The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources, into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order,” he said. Almost 19 months into a war with no end in sight, U.N. leaders had signaled that they wanted this year’s General Assembly, which began on Tuesday, to center on global warming and the sustainable development of poorer countries. They were hoping for less of a focus on Ukraine than last year, when Mr. Zelensky addressed the gathering by video.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, “, ” Organizations: General, Assembly Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Georgia, Syria, Belarus, Baltic States

Banners displaying the NATO logo are placed at the entrance of new NATO headquarters during the move to the new building, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2018. "That means that we cannot make sure that the increased defence spending actually leads to more security." In February, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Kyiv was burning through shells much faster than the West could produce them. Bauer pushed for more private investment in the defence sector to ramp up production capacity, urging pension funds and banks to stop labelling defence investments as unethical. As we have seen in Ukraine, war is a whole of society event," he said, adding such investment was in the private sector's strategic interest as well.

Persons: Yves Herman, Rob Bauer, Jens Stoltenberg, Bauer, Gwladys Fouche, Sabine Siebold, Jason Neely, Ros Russell Organizations: NATO, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, Rights OSLO, Oslo, Ukraine, Kyiv, Germany, Poland, Baltic, Berlin

☆ Baltic Sea drills to focus for first time on repelling Russian attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BERLIN, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Major naval drills about to start in the Baltic Sea involving some 30 ships and more than 3,000 Western service members will for the first time practice how to respond to a Russian assault in the region, Germany's navy chief said on Friday. Securing the sea routes through the Baltic Sea is another focus of the exercise that will take place off the coasts of Latvia and Estonia. "Finland and the Baltic states depend to almost 100% on the maritime supply routes through the Baltic Sea," Kaack noted. The Suwalki Gap, a narrow land corridor of some 65 kilometres (40 miles), is the only connection linking the Baltic states to Poland and NATO's main territory in Europe. Germany aims to provide the facility to NATO as a regional maritime headquarters, capable of leading the alliance's operations in the Baltic Sea in case of a conflict.

Persons: Jan Christian Kaack, Kaack, Sabine Siebold, Peter Graff Organizations: NATO, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Russia, Berlin, Sweden, U.S, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland, NATO's, Europe, Rostock, Germany, Ukraine

☆ Poland, Baltics will shut Belarus border if 'critical incident' occurs -minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WARSAW, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Poland and the Baltic states will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a "critical incident" involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, the Polish interior minister said on Monday, amid rising tensions on NATO's eastern flank. EU and NATO members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which share a border with Belarus, have been increasingly concerned about border security since hundreds of Russian battle-hardened Wagner mercenaries arrived in Belarus at the invitation of President Alexander Lukashenko. "If there is a critical incident, regardless of whether it is at the Polish or Lithuanian border, we will retaliate immediately. Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told media that there were two criteria that could lead to a border closure. Poland has closed all but one border crossing point with Belarus this year following the imprisonment of a journalist of Polish origin and expulsions of Polish diplomats.

Persons: Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Mariusz Kaminski, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Agne Bilotaite, Bilotaite, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Marek Strzelecki, Andrius, Conor Humphries, Nick Macfie Organizations: WARSAW, EU, NATO, Wagner Group, Lithuanian, Thomson Locations: Poland, Baltic, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Minsk, Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Russia, Europe, East, Africa, Warsaw, Andrius Sytas, Vilnius

☆ Opinion: Russia’s uneasy neighbors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“All of Russia’s neighbors are under threat,” he said, “if Ukraine does not prevail.” He will find few who disagree among those neighbors. It’s why Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, one of the most eloquent proponents of the need to support Ukraine, says Ukraine is Estonia’s own front line. Here, the exterior of Russia’s embassy has become a showcase for the contempt Estonians feel for their former master. As in Estonia, Russia’s 21st century assault on Ukraine brought echoes of Russia’s 20th century subjugation of Latvia. Genuine normalcy, a permanent sense of safety, Russia’s neighbors have discovered, will have to wait until peace returns to a secure Ukraine.

Persons: Frida Ghitis, Latvia CNN —, it’s, Lithuania —, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Vladimir, Putin, Raivis, “, It’s, Kaja Kallas, Michal Fludra, Ukraine —, ” Janis Melnikovs, Radio Maria, Melnikovs, there’s, Russia —, Toomas, Margit Raud, Margit, —, Galina Domenikovska, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Russia’s Organizations: CNN, Washington Post, Politics, Latvia CNN, Frida Ghitis CNN, Estonian, Russian Embassy, Ukraine Independence, NATO, Catholic, Radio, Ukraine, Kremlin, People Fleeing, Authorities, Soviet Army, Twitter Locations: Riga, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Netherlands, Soviet Union, Tallinn, Estonian, Finland, Helsinki, People Fleeing Ukraine, Viru, Baltics, Russia’s, Baltic, Republic of Georgia, Crimean

☆ Ukraine angered by NATO official's suggestion that it could 'give up territory' to Russia and get NATO membership in return
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Thibault Spirlet | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A NATO official said Ukraine could give territory to Russia in order to join the military alliance. Ukraine's NATO membership has been a divisive issue among its Western allies. "I think that a solution could be for Ukraine to give up territory and get NATO membership in return," he said, per the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang. Ukraine's NATO membership has been a sticking point among its Western allies. "It's unprecedented and absurd when time frame is not set neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine's membership," Zelenskyy said last month.

Persons: Stian Jenssen, Jenssen, Mihaylo Podolyak, Podolyak, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: NATO, Service, Ukrainian, Norwegian, Gang Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Wall, Silicon, Arendal, Norway, Baltic States, France, Germany

☆ Opinion | ‘Oppenheimer’ and the Shadow of Stalin
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Ross Douthat | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

So the point of reading McMeekin’s book is to give early Cold War anti-communism its due. Just this, “Stalin’s War” suggests: They saw Stalin clearly. Nor was Stalin any kind of naïve, unsuspecting victim of Hitler’s Barbarossa onslaught, as some historical clichés would have it. And these Soviet machinations benefited from the same mixture of philo-communism among New Deal liberals and outright Soviet espionage that shaped Oppenheimer’s milieu. As I said, McMeekin’s account is polemical, written as a corrective to other histories and open to counterarguments in turn.

Persons: Stalin, ”, Hitler, McMeekin, Hitler’s Barbarossa, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, It’s Organizations: Soviet, New Deal, Soviet Union Locations: Nazi Germany, Tokyo, Japan, United States, Eastern Europe, East Asia, Baltic States, America, Soviet

☆ Wagner fighters seek to unsettle NATO's eastern flank, Polish PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Fighters from Russia's private Wagner mercenary force are being moved close to NATO's eastern flank to destabilise the military alliance, Poland's prime minister said on Thursday. Wagner soldiers have begun training with the Belarus national army, prompting Poland to start moving more than 1,000 troops closer to the border. "We need to be aware that the number of provocations will rise," Mateusz Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in eastern Poland. "The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilize it." Nauseda said the number of Wagner fighters in Belarus could be higher than 4,000.

Persons: Wagner, Mateusz Morawiecki, Gitanas Nauseda, Nauseda, Vladimir Putin, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: WARSAW, Belarus national, NATO, Thomson Locations: Poland, Belarus, Russian, Kaliningrad, Baltic, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine

☆ Poland-Belarus: Tensions high on NATO's border with Belarus after Wagner troops move closer
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Sana Noor Haq Josh Pennington Niamh Kennedy Darya Tarasova Jessie Gretener Yulia Kesaieva | Sana Noor Haq | Josh Pennington | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Belarusian soldiers and Wagner troops attend joint training exercises near the border city of Brest, in Belarus on July 20, 2023 amid increased border tensions between Warsaw and Minsk. Belarus' Defense Ministry/Handout/AP/FileMinsk had informed Warsaw about the exercise, but a border crossing took place in the eastern Bialowieza region at a “very low altitude, making detection by radar systems difficult,” the Polish defense ministry said in a statement. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak subsequently ordered that more troops and combat helicopters be deployed along the border, the ministry added. “By deploying troops from both the west (Kaliningrad) and the east (Belarus), Russia would be able to effectively cut off the Baltic States from its NATO allies in central and western Europe. Five EU countries, four of whom border Ukraine – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – lifted sanctions on the import of Ukrainian grain, which they had installed to protect their own agricultural industries.

Persons: Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner’s, Mariusz Blaszczak, Mateusz Morawiecki, Paweł Jabłoński, Barbara Yoxon, Putin, “, ” Yoxon, ”, Yoxon, Bulgaria –, Marcin Przydacz, Poland Organizations: CNN, NATO, EU, Belarus ' Defense Ministry, Polish, Belarusian Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Lancaster University, “, Presidential, International, Ukraine, ” Locations: Poland, Belarus, Minsk, Europe, Warsaw, Belarusian, Lithuania, Russian, Moscow, Brest, Polish, EU, Russia, Kaliningrad, Baltic, Grodno, England, Ukraine, Baltic States, Latvia, Estonia, Western, Ukrainian, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Kyiv, Republic of Poland

Thousands of Wagner troops are reportedly in Belarus following a failed military uprising in Russia. What exactly Wagner troops are doing in Grodno is unclear, as Wagner has not commented on the reports. It is not clear exacttly how many Wagner troops are in Belarus. They were invited to the country as part of a deal negotiated by the Belarus president to end the mercenary group’s armed insurrection against the Kremlin last month. The two plan to hold joint military exercises near the border with Poland, a move likely to further raise tensions.

Persons: Wagner, Mateusz Morawiecki, Morawiecki, ”, “, Alexander Lukashenko, Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko, Putin Organizations: CNN, Poland ”, EU, NATO, Analysts, Kremlin Locations: Russian, Poland, Lithuania, Polish, Grodno, Belarus, Russia, Belarusian, EU, Kaliningrad, Baltic, Ukraine, Russia’s, “, ” Poland

☆ 'After the war, they will be a member': Russia’s neighbors back Ukraine's NATO bid at summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The leaders of Europe's Baltic states on Tuesday reiterated their support for Ukraine's expedited NATO membership bid, insisting that Kyiv should join the military alliance as soon as its war with Russia is over. Speaking on the first day of NATO's two-day summit, Latvia's Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said that all allies were aligned on the embattled state's ultimate membership. Ukraine's accession to the alliance is one of the major topics on the agenda as NATO members meet in Vilnius, Lithuania this week. "It looks like there is no readiness either to invite Ukraine to NATO or to make it a member of the Alliance," Zelenskyy said on Telegram Tuesday, ahead of an expected appearance at the summit. It comes a day after NATO dropped its Membership Action Plan (MAP) requirement for Ukraine — one of the major sticking points in accession negotiations.

Persons: Krišjānis Kariņš, Kariņš, CNBC's Steve Sedgwick, I'm, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy Organizations: Latvia's, NATO, Alliance Locations: Baltic, Russia, Ukraine, Vilnius, Lithuania

☆ Analysis: Why Ukraine's plea for NATO membership is such a profound dilemma for the West
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The president said that the alliance needed to lay out a “rational path” for Ukraine’s membership but that it was still short of some requirements for joining, including over democratization. NATO membership would also boost Ukraine’s bid to cement a democracy that was vulnerable before the war and fulfill the desire of many of its people to join the West. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, last week introduced a resolution calling for a roadmap to Ukraine’s NATO membership as soon as it is practicable. “Guaranteeing Ukraine’s security would erode US security by increasingly the risk, obviously, of war with Russia,” he said. Even if Biden were to amend his position on accelerating NATO membership for Ukraine, he cannot ensure a successor would honor treaty obligations.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, ” Biden, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Volodymyr Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, ”, –, Putin, stiffen, Lindsey Graham, Richard Blumenthal, “, We’re, Michael McCaul, Ben Friedman, ” Friedman, Donald Trump, Zelensky Organizations: CNN, NATO, Ukrainian, ABC News, Kremlin, Warsaw, South Carolina Republican, Connecticut Democrat, Ukraine, GOP Rep, House Foreign Affairs Committee, Texas Republican, Defense, American, Soviet, Russia Locations: Europe, Ukraine, Moscow, Russia, Lithuania, Eastern Europe, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Baltic, Latvia, Estonia, Soviet Union, Bucharest, Sens, Connecticut, Russian, United Kingdom, “ State, Western Europe, Israel, Taiwan, United States, Eastern

☆ NATO unity will be tested at upcoming summit. Ukraine's possible entry may be the biggest challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Patriot long-range air defence systems of the German Bundeswehr armed forces are deployed at Vilnius Airport ahead of the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 7, 2023. "I don't think it's ready for membership in NATO," President Joe Biden told CNN in an interview airing Sunday. More than two-thirds of alliance members have banned the weapon because it has a track record for causing many civilian casualties. As for Ukraine's possible entry into NATO, the alliance said in 2008 that Kyiv eventually would become a member. "That's an issue that will cause tension and dissent, and that's not what the Vilnius summit is all about," he said.

Persons: NATO's, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Biden, Douglas Lute, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Wagner, Lute, Mitch McConnell, Putin, Daniel Fried, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finland, Erdogan, It's, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Max Bergmann, They've, Bergmann, Viktor Orban, Idaho Sen, Jim Risch, aren't, Risch, I'm, we've, Jens Stoltenberg, who's, Mette Frederiksen, Stoltenberg, Rasmussen, Skip Davis, that's Organizations: German Bundeswehr, Vilnius Airport, NATO Summit, NATO, CNN, Republican, Kentucky, Associated Press, Putin, Atlantic Council, Ukraine, State Department, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Senate Foreign Relations, Danish, Center for Locations: German, Vilnius, Lithuania, Russian, Ukraine, Sweden, Eastern Europe, United States, Israel, Moscow, Finland, U.S, Russia, Kyiv, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Stockholm, Idaho, Hungary, Baltic, Norwegian, Danish

[1/5] German Patriot air defence system units are seen at the Vilnius airport in Vilnius, Lithuania July 7, 2023. Many are also providing advanced air defence systems which the Baltic states lack. But for the region with total population of about 6 million people, this is not enough to sustain large militaries, invest in their own fighter jets or advanced air defence. NATO is NATO, and we feel ourselves safe because we are in NATO. He added that he feared waves of migrants at the border, or border violations, or military vehicles appearing at the border without explanation.

Persons: Janis Laizans, Joe Biden, Biden, Gitanas Nauseda, Caesar, Wagner, Edvard Rynkun, Elena Tarasevic, Col Steffen Lieb, Rustamas Liubajevas, Sabine Siebold, John Irish, William Maclean Organizations: Patriot, REUTERS, NATO, Belarus Allies, Baltic, European Union, Reuters, Wagner, Thomson Locations: Vilnius, Lithuania, Belarus, KANIUKAI, Russia, Baltic, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Spain, France, Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Poland, Kaniukai, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Russian, Minsk

Lithuania is the only one of the three states to have a land link to a fellow NATO ally, Poland. The three Baltic states have also attracted journalists who have fled Russia. DEFENCESpurred by Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the three Baltic states sharply increased military spending. According to NATO estimates for 2022, all three exceeded the NATO agreement to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defence. Since the invasion of Ukraine, the Baltic states have requested the forces deployed are beefed up to 3,000-5,000 troops in each state.

Persons: Alexei Navalny, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Boris Pistorius, Andrius Sytas, Edmund Blair Organizations: NATO, RAND Corporation, European Union, Corruption, German, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Lithuania, Baltic, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Soviet Union, Siberia, Soviet, Russia, Belarus, NATO, Poland, Russia's Kaliningrad, Estonian, U.S, RUSSIA, UKRAINE, United States, West, Moscow, Vilnius, Russian, Crimea, Germany, Britain, Canada, British

☆ The war in Ukraine will define Biden’s legacy, but peril and uncertainty lie ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

They include:— A war of words between Ukraine and Russia over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of readying a bomb attack. The back-and-forth is raising fears of another alarming new dimension to a war already marred by alleged war crimes and terrible suffering among civilians. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the potential for “sabotage” by Ukraine at the plant was high. Given Russia’s previous nuclear rhetoric and fog of war misinformation, many Western observers are likely to give Zelensky the benefit of the doubt. Zelensky argued in the interview that the uprising exposed splits inside Russia over the war and an erosion of Russians’ positions.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Wagner, Vladimir Putin’s, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Zelensky, Dmitry Peskov, –, CNN’s Christian Edwards, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Zelensky, Putin, Mike Turner of, CNN’s Jake Tapper, ”, Burnett, “, Hanna Maliar, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Xi Jinping, what’s, ” McConnell, “ That’s, it’s, McConnell Organizations: CNN, NATO, Kremlin, UN, International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagner Group, Senior, House Intelligence, Ukrainian, Republican, Senate, Kentucky Republican, America, Trump Locations: Ukraine, Lithuania, Baltic, Soviet Union, Russia, readying, Russian, Belarus, Moscow, Mike Turner of Ohio, Klishchiivka, Bakhmut, Washington, Europe, Fort Knox

"It's all about containing those kinds of capabilities from the north," retired U.S. Major General Gordon B. Davis Jr. told Reuters. "With five submarines we can close the Baltic Sea," Linden told Reuters. The region from the Baltic in the south to the high north may become almost an integrated operating area for NATO. It was first shipped from Germany across the Baltic Sea, then trucked nearly 900 km to the north. "It would make it very difficult for the Russian Baltic Sea fleet to operate in a free way," he said.

Persons: Mika Hakkarainen, Finland –, Major General Gordon B, Davis Jr, Fredrik Linden, Sweden's, Linden, Samu Paukkunen, Paukkunen, Sebastian Bruns, Michael Maus, Kurt Rossi, Rossi, Tuomo Lamberg, Bruns, Nick Childs, Anne Kauranen, Johan Ahlander, Jacob Gronholt, Sabine Siebold, Sara Ledwith Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Fleet, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Major, Analysts, Northern Fleet, Kiel University's Institute for Security, NATO's, Transformation, Field Artillery, U.S . Army, Baltic, Commission, Security, Cooperation, Naval Forces and Maritime Security, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Fouche, Pedersen, Thomson Locations: TORNIO, Finland, KARLSKRONA, Sweden, Norway, Russia, Stockholm, Ukraine, Moscow, Europe, RUSSIA, Russian, Murmansk, Kola, Barents, North America, Greenland, Iceland, Helsinki, Baltic, Nord, Russia's, Denmark, Kiel, Rovaniemi, Santa Claus, United States, Britain, Germany, –, St, Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sweco, Swedish, Gotland, Karlskrona, Oeland, London, Birmingham, Tornio, Oslo, Copenhagen, Brussels

At a summit in Brussels, the leaders restated their condemnation of Russia's war against Ukraine and said the EU and its member countries "stand ready" to contribute to commitments that would help Ukraine defend itself in the long term. In a text summarising the conclusions of the summit, the leaders said they would swiftly consider the form these commitments would take. Ukraine needs our commitment to continue ensuring their security during the war and after the war," he added. The final text said the EU would contribute "together with partners" and "in full respect of the security and defence policy of certain Member States". Ukraine has argued the best way to assure its own security and that of Europe is for it to join NATO.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Josep Borrell, Borrell, Zelenskiy, Wagner, Bart Meier, Marine Strauss, Sabine Siebold, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Union, Russia, EU, European Peace Facility, Ukrainian Defence Fund, European Union, NATO, Kyiv, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Brussels, Ukraine, France, Baltic, U.S, States, United States, Britain, Germany, Europe, Russia

☆ Reading the Tea Leaves on the End of the War in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Thomas E. Ricks | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in February last year has led to the biggest war in Europe in many generations. Within a month of the war’s onset, it had already become “a [foul]-up of historic proportions,” as one veteran Ukraine correspondent recently put it. Five weeks after the invasion, Putin’s spokesman claimed that Ukraine’s military was “largely destroyed.”But a war intended to undercut Ukraine’s leaders and NATO has instead strengthened both. Less noticed in the West is how Russia’s war has also alienated former Soviet nations such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Just before the war, the Scottish American historian Niall Ferguson wrote that Ukraine would receive “no significant military support from the West” and speculated on the location of Putin’s victory parade.

Persons: —, Don, Vladimir Putin, Izvestia, Niall Ferguson Organizations: Wagner, NATO, Scottish, West Locations: Ukraine, Europe, Russian, Rostov, mull, Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Scottish American, Ukrainian

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