UK would support Finland if it came under attack, says Boris Johnson
Asked whether the declaration will mean British boots on the ground in Finland, Johnson says the agreement is clear:
What it says is that in the event of a disaster, or in the event of an attack on either of us, then we will come to each other’s assistance, including with military assistance.
The nature of that assistance will “depend on the request of the other party”, Johnson says.
The UK prime minister stresses that Nato is a “defensive” alliance, adding:
Nato poses no threat to anyone. It is there for the purposes of mutual defence.
Finland joining Nato would not be 'against anyone', its president says – video
The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February. Kyiv said Moscow plans to hold a fake referendum on independence or annexation. The Kremlin responded that it was up to residents living in region to decide whether they wanted to join Russia, but any decision must have a legal basis.
Ukraine claimed it has recaptured Pytomnyk, a village north of Kharkiv, about halfway to the Russian border. “The occupying forces moved to the defence in order to slow down the pace of the offensive of our troops,” Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces said in its latest report. “The settlement of Pytomnyk ... was liberated.”
Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine. GTSOU, which operates Ukraine’s gas system, said it would stop shipments via the Sokhranivka route from Wednesday, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control. Gas flows from Russia’s Gazprom to Europe via Ukraine fell by a quarter on Wednesday.
The war will end when Ukraine reclaims everything that Russia took from it, Zelenskiy maintained. “The war will end for the Ukrainian people only when we get back what’s ours,” he said in an online address with students of leading universities in France, representatives of academia and the media.
Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed. More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted.
Ukraine has proposed to Russia that badly injured defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port of Mariupol be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Wednesday. “There is no agreement yet. Negotiations are continuing,” she said in a post on Telegram.
A Chinese former ambassador to Ukraine, Gao Yusheng, has strongly criticised Russia’s invasion. In a speech which was reported on by the Chinese press before quickly being taken down, Gao said Putin’s frequent “violations” of former Soviet states’ territory were “the greatest threat to peace, security and stability in Eurasia”.
Ukraine has claimed it has recaptured the town of Pytomnyk, north of Kharkiv and about halfway to the Russian border.
The occupying forces moved to the defence in order to slow down the pace of the offensive of our troops,” Ukraine’s general staff of the armed forces said in its latest operational report.
In the course of successful actions of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the settlement of Pytomnyk of Kharkiv region was liberated.”
“We are having successes in the Kharkiv direction, where we are steadily pushing back the enemy and liberating population centres,” Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov, Deputy Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of Ukraine’s General Staff added.
'The war will end when Russia returns our right to live,' Zelenskiy says
The war will end when Ukraine reclaims everything that Russia took from it, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has maintained.
In an online address with students of leading universities in France, representatives of academia and the media, the president said:
The war will end for the Ukrainian people only when we get back what’s ours. We do not need too much, because everything needs to be watched, we need only what’s ours. We want to return peace to our state, to our land.
We want to get our land back, because our history is tied with it, it is respect for international law.
When we return everything ours, we will end this war.”
Zelenskiy also noted that the chances of ending the war through diplomacy decrease “every time Russian troops commit heinous crimes against Ukrainians, as happened in Bucha and Mariupol”.
Ukraine has said its military has destroyed pontoon bridges that Russian troops were using to cross a river in the eastern Luhansk region.
The Ukrainian defence ministry published photos of what it said were destroyed Russian tanks and other armoury in the village of Bilohorivka, near the strategic Ukrainian-held city of Lysychansk.
Luhansk regional head Serhiy Haidai described Bilohorivka as a “fortress” that - like the city of Mariupol - was “holding back a great number” of Russian troops.
Heavy fighting has been raging in the region for days.
Artillerymen of the 17th tank brigade of the #UAarmy have opened the holiday season for ruscists. Some bathed in the Siverskyi Donets River, and some were burned by the May sun. pic.twitter.com/QsRsXmnJ65
We have some footage of Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, announcing his country’s possible intention to join Nato.
Finland is not yet a member of the intergovernmental military alliance, but Niinistö said joining would be to “maximise security” and not be in any way offensive.
Niinistö said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had pushed his government and country to think about its security. Niinistö was speaking at a joint news conference with the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, after signing a new security agreement that would involve Britain providing military assistance if Finland was attacked.
Finland joining Nato would not be 'against anyone', its president says – video
The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February. It is not clear whether the Kremlin will go forward with an annexation or is using it as a threat to put pressure on Kyiv.
Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed. More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted.
A Chinese former ambassador to Ukraine, Gao Yusheng, has strongly criticised Russia’s invasion. In a speech which was reported on by the Chinese press before quickly being taken down, Gao said Putin’s frequent “violations” of former Soviet states’ territory were “the greatest threat to peace, security and stability in Eurasia”.
The wives of two of the last remaining Ukrainian fighters holed up in Mariupol’s steelworks asked Pope Francis to help get soldiers to a third country. One told him: “You are our last hope, I hope you can save their lives. Please don’t let them die.” Ukraine has proposed that badly injured defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port of Mariupol be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
In his nightly address, Zelenskiy celebrated the first US congressional passage of $40bn in aid, as well as the approval of the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act. The package includes $6bn for security assistance, including training, equipment, weapons and support; $8.7bn to replenish stocks of US equipment sent to Ukraine, and $3.9bn for European Command operations.
In his nightly address, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy celebrated the first US congressional passage of $40b in aid, as well as the approval of the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act.
He said:
The House of Representatives of the United States Congress voted for a new and significant package of support for our state and global democracy. Almost $40 billion...
These funds will be used as quickly as possible and without bureaucracy to strengthen Ukraine’s defense. First of all, it is weapons and ammunition for us, equipment. But not only that. It is also a support for the investigation of war crimes of the Russian Federation, the occupiers, support for diplomatic work and more.
He also celebrated Joe Biden’s final approval of the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act today:
People who remember history well know that Lend-Lease was one of the key preconditions for the Allied victory in World War II. Lend-Lease assistance from the United States to the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union has dramatically changed the balance of power in Europe. Europeans then received a wide range of products under Lend-Lease - from aircraft to trucks, from aviation fuel to communication means. By the way, American radio stations and other things provided under Lend-Lease worked for the Soviet people long after the war. For decades. Hitler’s Germany, even with all the resources in the occupied territories, could do nothing to counter this potential of the Allies on the basis of American productive capacities.
And it is no coincidence that the new Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act was signed on May 9. I am personally grateful to President Biden for this support, for this decision and for such symbolism.
Because we are now defending freedom and the right to life for all free nations in the war against tyranny, which poses no less of a threat to Europe than it did 80 years ago.
Simply put, Lend-Lease is a scheme to give us everything we need for defense. Although formally it is like a loan, in fact it is so profitable that it is incorrect to call it a loan.
Putin’s dilemma: what is his next move in Ukraine?
When Vladimir Putin stood up to speak at this week’s Victory Day parade in Moscow’s Red Square, there was an expectation – around the world and in Russia – that he would decisively seek to escalate the war in Ukraine towards a conclusion.
But as Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth tells Michael Safi, Putin did nothing of the kind. He did not even claim the victories that were available to him – there were no announcements regarding defeated cities in Ukraine now under Russian control. Instead, he spoke of helping the military families who had sacrificed their sons to the conflict.
The muted tone of the speech was revealing: it shows, says Roth, that Putin is faced with a dilemma that could make or break his presidency and his legacy in Russia. If he escalates the conflict he stands more chance of winning the kind of victory he initially hoped for. But should that fail, he would face humiliation. Alternatively, he could claim victory now and seek to de-escalate the conflict. But would a limited, compromised declaration of victory be regarded as anything but a retreat?
The decision cannot be delayed indefinitely. Russia’s elite fighting units are nearing exhaustion. And the limited “operation” does not yet allow for a full-scale mobilisation. But there is growing recognition in Moscow and elsewhere that Ukraine’s fighters should not be underestimated. Putin does not hold all the aces in this conflict.
Final congressional approval of a $40bn Ukraine aid bill in the United States seems certain within days as top US Senate Republicans said Wednesday they expect strong backing from their party for the measure already passed by the House of Representatives, the Associated Press reports.
“I think there’ll be substantial support. We’re going to try to process it as soon as possible,” Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, told the AP about the latest legislation legislation, which cleared the House late Tuesday by an emphatic 368 votes to 57 margin in support of the massive funding package.
The No 2 Republican in the Senate, John Thune of South Dakota predicted “a big vote over here” for the bill, which he and others suggested might come Thursday but could spill into next week.
Thune said some Republicans would vote against it and procedural tactics by opponents to slow it were possible, but added:
I think because there’s so much forward momentum behind doing this and doing it in a timely way that it I don’t think we’ll have anybody who will hold it up.”
It’s taken just two weeks for lawmakers to receive president Joe Biden’s smaller, $33bn package, enlarge it and move it to the brink of passage – lightning speed for Congress.
That reflects a bipartisan consensus that Ukraine’s outnumbered forces need additional Western help as soon as possible, with added political pressure fueled by near-daily tales of atrocities against civilians inflicted by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s armies.
“Act quickly we must,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat of New York. “I will make sure this is a priority for the Senate. We have a moral obligation to stand with our friends in Ukraine.”
Top US Senate Republicans said they expect strong GOP support for the $40bn Ukraine aid bill. Photograph: Sarah Silbiger/Reuters
My west coast colleague Maanvi Singh will now take the blog baton in Oakland, California, and take you through events as they happen.
“Who’s going to be buying Russian kit? We have seen in Libya, in Syria, in Azerbaijan, and now in Ukraine, [🇷🇺] equipment being defeated by predominantly handheld equipment,” Wallace said. “When a TB-2 takes out your SA-22… I think that has an impact on what is Russia’s offer"
And he claims that China appears to be increasingly embarrassed by Russia’s conduct of its war in Ukraine, with Beijing regarding Moscow as an “inconvenient friend”, according to this FP report.
NEW: China is increasingly embarrassed by Russia's war in Ukraine, Britain's Defense Secretary said on Tuesday.
After the damage Putin has caused in Ukraine: “How many world leaders are going to be taking Putin on line two?” Ben Wallace told reporters.https://t.co/6hbrA1qzwS
Ben Wallace and Lloyd Austin looking on as a military display takes place at the Pentagon.
Ben Wallace, Britain’s secretary of defence, left, stands alongside his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin during an honour cordon ceremony, upon his arrival at the Pentagon on 11 May. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Strong images continue to emerge from Mariupol of the destruction wrought by occupying Russian forces, which continue to besiege the Azovstal steel complex, where Ukrainian forces are holding out in dire straits.
A member of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry walks near a residential building on 11 May, destroyed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Russian authorities clear a damaged residential building in Mariupol. Photograph: Pavel Klimov/Reuters
Russian service members are seen atop of an armoured vehicle in the southern port city of Mariupol. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Mariupol
It’s unclear what the exact circumstances are with these people pictured on 11 May, but they are in Mariupol with their belongings and, in the background, are the damaged facilities of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Ukraine has proposed to Russia that badly injured defenders in the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port of Mariupol be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
There is no agreement yet. Negotiations are continuing,” she said in an online post.
An explosion at the Azovstal Iron and Steel complex on 11 May. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
We’ll bring you more details when we have them. Conditions in the besieged steel works, Ukraine’s last stand in Mariupol, have been appalling both for Ukrainian military coming under heavy fire and attacks from the Russians and Ukrainian civilians hiding and recently evacuated from the huge, labyrinthine complex that has several floors below ground.
Deputy Prime minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk speaks to the press as people arrive from Mariupol on 3 May. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had spoken to German chancellor Olaf Scholz and discussed defensive aid, energy sector cooperation and increasing sanctions on Russia as an invading force, Reuters now reports.
The Ukrainian president said the two talked about such matters in relation to “the Russian aggressor”.
“We appreciate the high level of dialogue” with Germany, he tweeted, using a German flag emoji to represent the country, and “support in our struggle”.
Held regular talks with 🇩🇪 Chancellor @Bundeskanzler. Talked about defensive aid, cooperation in the energy sector, increasing sanctions on the Russian aggressor. We appreciate the high level of dialogue with 🇩🇪 and support in our struggle!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) May 11, 2022
Zelenskiy had previously invited Scholz to make a powerful political statement by visiting Kyiv on 9 May, the day German leaders have often travelled to Moscow to mark Russia’s Victory Day commemoration of the defeat of Nazi Germany in the second world war.
That particular visit did not take place and Scholz instead was in Berlin, accompanied by French president Emmanuel Macron, where the Brandenburg Gate was illuminated in the colours of the Ukrainian flag as a mark of support.
Reuters notes that Scholz had been reluctant to visit Ukraine since Kyiv was unwilling to receive German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Steinmeier is unpopular in Kyiv because he is associated there with an earlier German policy of pursuing close trade and other ties with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock visited Ukraine yesterday (10 May) as the highest-ranking German government official to visit the country since Russia’s invasion began on 24 February.
The US team has taken the blog now and our team in New York and California will keep you updated for the next few hours before we hand over to our colleagues in Australia.
The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February. It is not clear whether the Kremlin will go forward with an annexation or is using it as a threat to put pressure on Kyiv.
Three Russian prisoners of war accused of targeting or murdering civilians, and a soldier who allegedly killed a man before raping his wife, are set to be in the dock in the first war crimes trials of the Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian prosecutor general has revealed. More than 10,700 crimes have been registered since the war began by the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor general, led by Iryna Venediktova, and a handful of cases have now been filed or are ready to be submitted.
A Chinese former ambassador to Ukraine, Gao Yusheng, has strongly criticised Russia’s invasion. In a speech which was reported on by the Chinese press before quickly being taken down, Gao said Putin’s frequent “violations” of former Soviet states’ territory were “the greatest threat to peace, security and stability in Eurasia”.
The Russian-controlled administration in the Ukrainian city of Kherson has said it plans to request annexation by Moscow, a move that would confirm the Kremlin’s permanent occupation of Ukrainian territory captured since February.
If Russia attempts to annex the Kherson region it would make a peace agreement more unlikely, as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said that Russia’s withdrawal to prewar positions was a precondition for any successful negotiation.
It is not clear whether the Kremlin will go forward with an annexation or is using it as a threat to put pressure on Kyiv.
The annexation call was made on Wednesday by Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the military administration Russia put in place to run Kherson in late April. Russia occupied Kherson in March and seized its city council building in late April.
“The city of Kherson is Russia; there will be no the KNR [Kherson People’s Republic] on the territory of the Kherson region, there will be no referendums,” said Stremousov in a televised briefing.
It will be a single decree based on the appeal of the leadership of the Kherson region to the president of the Russian Federation, and there will be a request to make [Kherson] into a full-fledged region of the Russian Federation.
Stremousov previously said that Kherson would begin using the rouble currency, a move seen as creeping integration into Russia.
Russian officials who have visited Kherson have promised not to abandon the region. “Russia is here to stay forever,” said Andrei Turchak, secretary general of Russia’s ruling United Russia party, while visiting Kherson last week. “There should be no doubt about it. There will be no return to the past.”
But similar requests for annexation from territories such as the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic have languished for years, as the Kremlin has dangled integration while seeking to put pressure on Kyiv.
Here’s more on Helskini’s decision on whether to apply for Nato membership. A former Finnish prime minister, Alexander Stubb, said Finland is 99.9% likely to join the alliance.
Speaking to the BBC, Stubb said the Finnish president will announce the country’s intention to join tomorrow, followed by an announcement over the weekend, and a joint statement from Finland and Sweden early next week.
There is “overwhelming support” in Finland for joining Nato, Stubb said, citing a poll earlier this week which showed 76% in favour and 12% against.
Stubb, who served as prime minister from 2014 to 2015, said:
The only person we can thank is Putin, he’s the reason we’re joining.
He said Finland is “not at all” worried about Russia’s threat of “a military-technical response” if it joins the alliance, adding that when Iceland, Denmark and Norway joined in 1949 “the rhetoric was similar”.
But he warned that Finland could be vulnerable to Russian intimidation, cyber attacks and disinformation during the “grey zone” of the membership application process.
