Finland must apply to join Nato “without delay”, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin said, in a major policy shift triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland, which shares an 810 mile border and a difficult past with Russia, has gradually stepped up its cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a partner since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
But until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Nordic country had refrained from joining in order to maintain friendly relations with its eastern neighbour.
“Finland must apply for Nato membership without delay,” Mr Niinisto and Ms Marin said in a joint statement.
“We hope that the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly within the next few days.”
Follow the latest updates below.
07:53 AM
Denmark to push for quick Nato admission of Finland
Denmark will push for a quick Nato admission process of Finland, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday after Finland signaled it would apply for membership of the military alliance “without delay”.
“Denmark will of course warmly welcome Finland to Nato. (It) will strengthen Nato and our common security,” Ms Frederiksen said on Twitter.
“Denmark will do everything for a quick admission process after the formal application.”
07:36 AM
Ukraine wants spot ‘reserved’ for it in EU
Ukraine wants a spot reserved for it in the European Union, even if obtaining full membership could take time, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said in Berlin.
“It is not about the fastest possible membership for Ukraine in the EU. But what is very important for us is for this spot to be reserved for Ukraine,” he told German broadcaster ARD.
“We hear often that Ukraine belongs in Europe, belongs in the European family, and now it’s about reserving this place,” he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned early this week that it would take “decades” for a candidate like Ukraine to join the EU.
07:18 AM
No return to normal relations for Russia’s Putin – Boris Johnson
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he did not see how there could be a normalisation of relations with President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Asked during an interview on LBC Radio whether Putin could be welcomed back on the global stage if he were to repent, Mr Johnson said: “Repentance is going to be very difficult for Vladimir Putin now … nothing is impossible, I suppose, but I just cannot see for the life of me how we can renormalise relations with Putin now.”
Mr Johnson said the world risked a repeat of 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.
“The world basically said, this is appalling. We condemn it, we denounce it — and we did. And we put on sanctions. But at the same time, we kind of opened negotiations with him about a way forward,” LBC quoted him as saying. “And Putin basically used that as a way of twisting the knife in Ukraine.”
“If the Ukrainians were to do any kind of deal with Putin now, the risk is that he would do exactly the same thing and they know it. So the short answer is no. No renormalisation and the UK is very clear about that.”
07:10 AM
Mariupol today, in pictures
06:49 AM
Russia ‘most direct threat to world order’
Top European officials have warned that Russia poses the “most direct threat” to world order and urged China to play a more constructive role on the international stage as they held talks in Tokyo.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel are in Japan for talks that have touched on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but also growing concerns about China’s role in Asia and beyond.
Russia “is today the most direct threat to the world order with the barbaric war against Ukraine, and its worrying pact with China,” Ms von der Leyen said after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The annual summit comes with much of the international community rallying to pressure Moscow over Ukraine.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just a matter for Europe, but it shakes the core of the international order including Asia. This must not be tolerated,” said Mr Kishida, whose government has joined tough sanctions on Moscow, including on energy.
06:39 AM
Finland ‘will join Nato’
Finland is expected to announce its intention to join Nato with Sweden likely to follow soon after, diplomats and officials said.
Nato allies expect Finland and Sweden to be granted membership quickly, five diplomats and officials told Reuters, paving the way for increased troop presence in the Nordic region during the one-year ratification period.
In the wider Nordic region, Norway, Denmark and the three Baltic states are already Nato members, and the addition of Finland and Sweden would likely anger Moscow, which says Nato enlargement is a direct threat to its own security.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited the issue as a reason for his actions in Ukraine, which has also expressed a desire to eventually join the western alliance.
Moscow has repeatedly warned Finland and Sweden against joining Nato, threatening “serious military and political consequences”.
Asked yesterday if Finland would provoke Russia by joining Nato, President Sauli Niinisto said Putin would be to blame. “My response would be that you caused this. Look at the mirror,” Mr Niinisto said.
06:20 AM
MoD update
05:34 AM
Horrors of amputation and dwindling medical supplies
It is a scene reminiscent of the horrors of the First World War – unshaven soldiers in filthy uniforms, their arms and legs ending in bandaged stumps, writes The Telegraph’s Colin Freeman.
The images, though, are not from the trenches of Ypres or Flanders, but from Ukraine a century later, showing wounded fighters trapped in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant.
The photos were released by the Azov Battalion, the unit making a last stand at the plant, to show the plight of its fighters after 12 weeks under siege from Russian troops.
SPECIAL REPORT: Ukraine’s ‘wounded, crippled’ Azovstal plant soldiers make last-ditch plea for rescue
04:33 AM
US Army to prepare for future cold-weather conflicts
The US Army is poised to revamp its forces in Alaska to better prepare for future cold-weather conflicts, and is expected to replace the larger, heavily equipped Stryker Brigade in the state with a more mobile, infantry unit better suited for the frigid fight, according to Army leaders.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth expects to make a decision soon about the Alaska troop change, saying she will likely convert the Stryker unit, which uses heavy, eight-wheeled vehicles, to an infantry brigade.
She said the purpose of Army forces in Alaska was based on creating an extreme cold weather-capable formation that could be used in Europe or the Indo-Pacific: “We’re trying to get to a place where we have Arctic capable forces – forces that can survive and operate in that environment.”
The US has long viewed the Arctic as a growing area of competition with Russia and China, particularly as climate change brings warmer temperatures and opens the sea lanes for longer periods of time. But officials have acknowledged that the US lags behind those nations. Russia has taken steps to increase its military presence there, and China views the region as economically valuable for shipping and natural resources.
The changes in the Army were under consideration well before US tensions with Russia soared following its invasion of Ukraine.
04:23 AM
Dead soldier’s mother appeals to Elon Musk
A Ukrainian commander in Mariupol has appealed directly to Elon Musk, asking the world’s richest man to intervene on behalf of those trapped by Russian forces in the southern port city.
The war has devastated Mariupol, where Ukrainians have sustained a pocket of resistance at a steel factory.
Iryna Yegorchenko, 43, was told on Wednesday that her soldier son Artem had died protecting the Azovstal plant.
“I suddenly felt relieved,” she told AFP.
The 22-year-old was crushed during the collapse of a structure and “quickly went to God”, said Ms Yegorchenko, who lives in Kyiv.
“He decided to defend his homeland, his people… I have nothing to be ashamed of as a mother.”
04:01 AM
Germany prepares for a winter without Russian gas
Germany may be able to cope with a boycott of Russian gas imports as soon as the coming winter, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told WirtschaftsWoche weekly on Thursday.
Germany has stepped up efforts to reduce its reliance on Russian energy supplies since Russia invaded Ukraine, but has so far said it expects to be largely dependent on its gas until some time in 2024.
“If we have full storage facilities at the turn of the year, if two of the four floating LNG tankers we have leased are connected to the grid and if we make significant energy savings, we can to some extent get through the winter if Russian gas supplies collapse,” Mr Habeck said.
He said everyone could play a part.
“Less consumption is the be-all and end-all,” he said, adding that if industry and private individuals could reduce gas consumption by 10pc, it would help avoid an emergency. He warned, however, that gas prices would increase further.
03:36 AM
Russia ‘the most direct threat to the world order’
Russia is the “most direct threat” to the international order because of its invasion of Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Tokyo on Thursday.
“[Russia] is today the most direct threat to the world order with the barbaric war against Ukraine, and its worrying pact with China,” she said after meeting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida along with European Council President Charles Michel.
The top EU officials are in Tokyo for an annual round of talks that comes with much of the international community rallying to pressure Moscow over the Ukraine war, with concern also growing about China’s role.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just a matter for Europe, but it shakes the core of the international order, including Asia. This must not be tolerated,” said Mr Kishida, whose government has joined in tough sanctions on Moscow, including on energy.
Beijing’s increasingly muscular stance in Asia was also on the agenda, with the EU looking to take a more high-profile role in confronting China.
“Our cooperation in Ukraine is critical in Europe, but it’s also important in the Indo-Pacific and we also want to deepen our consultation on a more assertive China,” said Mr Michel.
“We believe that China must stand up to defend the multilateral system that it has benefitted from in developing its country.”
02:39 AM
UK ‘would help Nordic nations fight the Russians’
[embedded content]
British soldiers would be sent to defend Sweden and Finland from Russian invasion, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday as he sealed mutual defence pacts with the Nordic nations to strengthen opposition to Vladimir Putin.
The Prime Minister suggested troops could be sent even if the two countries did not join Nato as he gave his public support for expanding the military alliance to further contain Russia.
The defence pacts, signed during Mr Johnson’s visit to both countries on Wednesday, are a warning shot to Moscow in case it is tempted to invade Sweden and Finland before they are expected to join Nato.
Read the full story here.
02:37 AM
In pictures: Ukrainians under fire in brutal war
02:30 AM
Support for American farmers filling supply shortage
US President Joe Biden has blamed the war in Ukraine for the latest spike in global food prices and visited a family farm in Illinois where he pledged to support the nation’s farmers as they seek to fill the supply shortage.
Mr Biden said US farmers had helped pull Americans through the Covid pandemic and now the Ukraine crisis.
“Right now, America is fighting on two fronts. At home, it’s inflation and rising prices. Abroad, it’s helping Ukrainians defend their democracy and feeding those who are left hungry around the world because Russian atrocities exist,” Mr Biden said.
The White House announced actions on Wednesday aimed at helping American farmers boost food production and lower food prices, including doubling funding for domestic fertiliser production and increasing technical help for nutrient management tools.
Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat and barley production, and two-thirds of the world’s exports of sunflower oil used for cooking.
12:44 AM
Quick membership if Finland and Sweden join Nato
Nato allies expect Finland and Sweden to apply to join the alliance in coming days and will grant membership quickly, Reuters has reported five diplomats and officials as saying.
During the one-year ratification of their membership, the allies would provide an increased troop presence in the Nordic region, hold more military exercises and naval patrols in the Baltic Sea and possibly rotate British and American forces through Finland and Sweden, they said.
Finland and Sweden would not benefit from Nato’s collective defence clause – that an attack on one ally is an attack on all – until the parliaments of all 30 member states have ratified the decision.
Finland President Sauli Niinisto will announce his stance on Thursday, a move that will be considered as official confirmation of Helsinki’s decision to join.
Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats are expected to decide on Sunday whether to overturn decades of opposition to Nato membership. Sweden’s parliament is holding a parallel, all-party review of security policy, which is due to report on Friday.
“Yes and yes: they will apply and they will be granted membership,” said one senior diplomat of how the two Nordic nations will act.
