Chris Lange, FISM News
The Senate on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to accept Sweden and Finland into NATO. President Biden said he’s ready to give the final sign-off for the U.S.
Before the Nordic countries can officially join the alliance, all 30 NATO members must formally sign off on their applications. Twenty-three nations have approved so far. Turkey backed down from its veto threat last month following closed-door negotiations with leaders of both countries.
President Biden applauded the Senate’s approval and said that Washington “remains committed to the security of Sweden and Finland” in a statement following the vote.
“We will continue working to remain vigilant against any threats to our shared security, and to deter and confront aggression or the threat of aggression,” Biden said.
Biden praised Finland and Sweden as “two strong democracies with highly capable militaries,” and said he looks forward to signing the necessary accession documents and welcoming them “into the greatest defensive alliance in history.”
Russia targets Zelenskyy’s hometown with a ‘strike force’
Ukraine says Russia is forming a military strike force to target Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, which has come under multiple attacks this week according to an Associated Press report.
Ukraine’s southern military command said Thursday that fighting has intensified in Kryvyi Rih and in the eastern town of Zaporizhzhia, where experts have been sounding the alarm over an abandoned nuclear power plant that could cause an environmental catastrophe.
In Ukraine’s south, Russia continued bombarding Mykolaiv and Kherson with missile strikes overnight as Ukrainian military officials warn that Moscow may be preparing for a new offensive in the region. Ukrainian forces have sought to reclaim occupied territory in the south, where they have targeted Russian bridges and military depots with U.S.-supplied rocket launchers.
The regional governors of Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk also reported shelling overnight that damaged residences and civilian infrastructure.
“The idea is to put military pressure on us in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk over the next few weeks…What is happening in the east is not what will determine the outcome of the war,” Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in an interview, according to the report.
Zelenskyy dismisses former German chancellor’s talk of ceasefire negotiations
Ukraine dismissed comments on Wednesday by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that Russia is hoping for a “negotiated solution” to end the war. Schroeder is friends with Russian President Vladimir Putin – something for which he has been heavily criticized among his fellow countrymen.
The former Chancellor said he has spoken with Putin recently and that he thought the success of the first shipment of grain out of Ukraine this week under a U.N.-brokered deal may signal the potential for a negotiated ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy excoriated Schroeder over the notion of talks with Russia in his nightly video address Wednesday.
“It is simply disgusting when former leaders of major states with European values work for Russia, which is at war against these values,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy and other top officials in Ukraine have repeatedly said that there will be no negotiations outside of a complete ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak called Schroeder “a well-known herald of the [Russian] Empire” in a tweet and reiterated Zelenskyy’s position on negotiations.
“If Moscow wants dialogue, it is up to them. First, a cease-fire and troops withdrawal, then – constructive,” Pdolyak wrote.
UN to investigate Ukrainian POW deaths
The U.N. has embarked on a fact-finding mission into the deaths of Ukrainian POWs killed in a missile strike on a prison in the Russian-separatist eastern town of Olenivka. Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were reportedly killed in the incident
The Washington Examiner reported that Ukraine and Russia have traded accusations over who is responsible and that both sides requested the investigation.