hat you might have missed over the weekend ;Here are the latest updates:
Ukraine
- Russia’s war is not going to plan, and Ukraine could win the conflict, Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said
- “They failed to take Kyiv, they are pulling back from around Kharkiv, their major offensive in Donbas has stalled. Russia is not achieving its strategic objectives,” Stoltenberg said
- The UK military has also confirmed that Russia’s offensive in the eastern Donbas region has lost momentum, estimating that Russia has lost about a third of its ground combat force since the war began in February
- Senior Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak says Ukraine can defeat Russia by the end of the year but needs heavy weapons from the West and a “real oil embargo” on Russia
Diplomacy
- In a historic shift, both Sweden and Finland have confirmed they will apply for Nato membership
- Sweden’s ruling party, the Social Democrats, has dropped its long opposition to joining Nato, and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said she will go to parliament on Monday to secure support for an application
- She said military non-alignment had served Sweden well in the past but was unlikely to do so in the future
- Finland’s bid will also have to be discussed in parliament but the country’s prime minister and president have spoken in favour of it
- Russia – which has cited Ukraine’s intention to join Nato as one of the reasons for its invasion – has warned that further expansion of the military alliance would be a mistake
- Turkey has also expressed reservations, saying both countries harbour members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it says is a terrorist group
More to follow……