Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Europe on Monday urged to sharpen and widen its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Sweden stood ready to follow Finland in its quest for NATO membership and the European Union worked to to ban Russian oil exports, which help finance the war.
On the ground, Russia suffered further setbacks in its offensive in the east, where the Ukrainian defenders fended off desperate advances and even managed to push the front lines back in some areas.
In a small but symbolic boost to Ukrainian morale, a patrol of soldiers captured triumphant video of their advance towards the Russian border in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian forces have already pushed back Russian troops from the regional capital, reducing their ability to attack the battered city with artillery.
As fighting intensified, international efforts to respond to Russian aggression accelerated. The Swedish government was expected to announce its intention to apply for NATO membership in the coming hours, following a similar decision by neighboring Finland. These are seismic events for the Nordic countries, which have traditionally positioned themselves as militarily “non-aligned”.
An expansion of NATO to include Sweden and Finland would deal a serious blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sees the alliance’s post-Cold War expansion into Eastern Europe as a threat. Putin has cited this as one of his reasons for attacking Ukraine. His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia would “carefully consider what the consequences of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO accession will be.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the accession process for both Finland and Sweden could go very quickly, although NATO member Turkey has expressed some doubts on the matter.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Monday joining the 30-strong military alliance was her country’s best defense against Russia’s behavior.
“Unfortunately, we have no reason to believe that the trend (of Russian stocks) will reverse anytime soon,” he said.
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McQuillan reported in Lviv, Ukraine. Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov and Andrea Rosa in Kharkiv, Elena Becatoros in Odessa, and other Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.