Finland makes an official request to join NATO. President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced this at a press conference.

Yesterday Niinisto had said it directly to Vladimir Putin in a conversation between the two, the Russian president replied that for Helsinki it would be "a mistake" to lose the neutrality that has always characterized the country. Moscow has also suspended the electricity supply to Finland.

"We wouldn't have made this decision if we didn't think it would strengthen our national security," Marin said. “ The nuclear threat is very serious , and it cannot be isolated in a specific region if we are talking about nuclear weapons. We are prepared for different kinds of Russian reactions. We are ready and we are preparing ”.

Everything has changed since that February 24, observes Marin: “When we look at Russia, we see a very different country from the one we saw just a few months ago. Everything has changed since he attacked Ukraine and I personally think that we can no longer believe that there will be a future of peace alongside Russia by being alone ”. Hence the adhesion to NATO defined by the premier as "an act of peace".

Official request will also be made by Sweden , according to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet on Tuesday. Today the ruling party, the Social Democrats, officially approved the country's request for membership in the Alliance.

Today in a meeting between the Alliance's foreign ministers in Berlin, Turkey confirmed its perplexity: "Sweden and Finland must stop supporting the PKK terrorists", is the position reaffirmed by Interior Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu .

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the entry of Stockholm and Helsinki "would be a historic moment and would increase our defense capacity". Stoltenberg said he was "confident" that an agreement will be reached with Ankara and reassured Sweden and Finland: " We will give them guarantees of security also during the candidacy period for NATO membership ".

Luigi Di Maio also stressed that there is broad consensus on the accession of the two countries: "Turkey too - he said - agrees in principle, it is only trying to negotiate some guarantees".

AZOVSTAL - Meanwhile the attacks on the Azovstal steel plant continue, the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol accuses the Russians of having launched phosphorus bombs against the steel plant : "Hell has come down to earth at Azovstal", wrote Petro Andryushchenko on Telegram .

Meanwhile, the barricaded fighters have "lost hope" of an evacuation and " are preparing for the final battle ," said Kateryna, wife of a soldier in the Azov Battalion. “They hardly go to the surface,” he added, “they only go to the mountains to find food and water. Most of the time they sit in bunkers. They are pessimistic, because there is almost no hope of salvation. They are preparing for the last battle because they do not believe in a diplomatic solution ”.

And that there are no hopes for a diplomatic solution, Moscow confirms, through Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation to the talks: " The fighters of the Azov Battalion cannot be the subject of political negotiations ".

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The day by the hour:

Zelensky: "The Russians are preparing for a new attack on the Donbass"

Ukraine is preparing "for new attempts by Russia to attack the Donbass, to consolidate its positions in southern Ukraine. The occupiers still do not want to admit that they are in a bind and that their so-called 'special operation' is already failed. The people will push the invaders to full recognition of reality ": Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a message, quoted by UNIAN. Speaking of the areas currently occupied by the Russians, the president said that "their stay is temporary. There will still be the Ukrainian flag, Ukrainian law, Ukrainian life".

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Kiev: "Moscow is training 2,500 reservists for war"

"The command of the armed forces of the Russian Federation is recruiting reservists to replenish the losses of its troops." This was underlined by the Ukrainian defense staff - according to the UNIAN agency -, which reports on the ongoing training of reservists in the Russian regions bordering Ukraine. "In the training camps in the Voronezh, Belgorod and Rostov regions, 2,500 reservists are trained and trained - the note reads -. It is expected that they will be sent to Ukraine to participate in the war". According to UNIAN, Russia is trying to carry out the so-called "hidden mobilization", an active campaign that involves sending military school graduates and cadets to the combat zones.

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Baerbock: "NATO enlargement is a historic moment"

"We are facing a historical moment that was in the air". German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said this today in Berlin, without giving details at a press conference on the conditions set by Ankara for an ok for Sweden and Finland to join NATO. However, he confirmed that there will now be a "direct dialogue between the three countries".

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Sweden, yes of the majority party to NATO membership

The Social Democratic Party that leads the government in Sweden has announced support for the country's candidacy for NATO membership. This is what is stated in a press release.

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NATO could define Russia as a "direct threat"

NATO could define Russia no longer as a 'partner' but a 'direct threat' in the Strategic document that will be approved by the Allies at the Madrid summit in June. Bloomberg reports this, citing an Alliance source. The allies are likely to keep open the possibility of reviving relations if Moscow's behavior changes, the source said. The Strategic Document outlines the priorities for the next few years and is expected to be finalized in Madrid at the end of June. The previous version, from 2010, referred to Moscow "as a partner, a formulation that - Bloomberg points out - should be eliminated".

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Moscow: "Azov fighters cannot be negotiated"

The fighters of the Azov battalion cannot be the subject of "political negotiations". Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation to talks with Kiev, said this while negotiations for the evacuation from Azovstal are still underway. Medinsky, reports Tass, has used the nickname of "war criminals" against the Ukrainian battalion that resists inside the Mariupol steel plant.

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Di Maio: "The war could last more than a year"

"There is a risk that this war could last even more than a year, that it will take a very long time, we are all aware of that". Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said at 'half an hour more' on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial. Recalling that the war in Ukraine already has "world" dimensions due to the surge in prices and the food crisis.

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Di Maio: "Broad consensus on Finland and Sweden in NATO"

"There is a very broad consensus from all countries to the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, Turkey also agrees in principle, Ankara is trying to negotiate some guarantees" with the two countries. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said at 'half an hour more' on Rai 3, connected from Berlin, on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial.

The minister also reiterated the need to always keep an "open channel with Moscow".

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Stoltenberg: "With Sweden and Finland born stronger"

"Ukraine can win this war", and "NATO is stronger and more united than ever". This was stated by Jens Stoltenberg in Berlin on video for the final conference of the meeting of foreign ministers of NATO countries. "Russia is not achieving the strategic goals it has set itself," he added.

Then the discussion turned on the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance: "The decision must be taken by them", he said, "it would be a historic moment and it would increase our defense capacity".

NATO, he added, "will give guarantees of security to Sweden and Finland also during the candidacy period for joining the Alliance".

On Turkey's doubts: “He expressed concerns. I am confident that we will find a solution and an agreement ”.

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Ankara: "Sweden and Finland stop supporting the PKK"

Finland and Sweden must stop supporting the PKK terrorists: this is the position of Ankara on NATO enlargement reaffirmed by the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at the end of the Alliance summit in Berlin.

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Helsinki asks to join NATO: "There is no peace alone next to Russia"

"We are prepared for different kinds of Russian reactions. We are ready and we are preparing." Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said this at a press conference announcing that Helsinki will ask for NATO membership.

"When we look at Russia, we see today a very different country from what we saw just a few months ago. Everything has changed since Russia attacked Ukraine and I personally think that we can no longer believe that there will be a future of peace next door. to Russia by being alone ", he said, explaining the decision to apply for NATO membership" is an act of peace, there will be no more war in Finland ", he said. The premier also said she feared Moscow's "nuclear threat".

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Kiev, 227 children dead since the beginning of the Russian invasion

227 children have been killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and over 420 have been injured. This was reported by the press service of the Attorney General on Telegram, reports Interfax Ukraine. These data are not definitive because the reconnaissance work in the occupied and then liberated territories is still in progress. As a result of the bombing of Ukrainian towns and villages by the Russian armed forces, 1,748 educational institutions were damaged, 144 of which were completely destroyed.

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Kharkiv, two thousand people a day return to the city

After the Russian retreat in Kharkiv, many are returning to the city. This was reported by the Ukrainska Pravda agency citing the statements of the head of the oblast, Oleg Sinegubov. "People are returning to the city of Kharkiv, at least 2 thousand per day return. Now we have to solve the housing problems because about 4-5 thousand people still live in the subway. We must provide at least temporary housing while waiting to build new ones," he added.

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Kuleba sees Blinken, "more weapons and aid on the way"

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reported in a tweet of his meeting in Berlin with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, stating that "more weapons and aid are on the way to Ukraine". “We agreed to work together to ensure Ukrainian food exports reach consumers in Africa and Asia. - reads the tweet - Grateful to Secretary Blinken and the US for their leadership and their unwavering support ".

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"We will not win in a month, but within this year"

Ukraine will not be able to defeat Russia "this month", but it will be able to defeat Russia "this year". Ukrainian presidential adviser and negotiator Mikhailo Podolyak wrote it on Twitter. Kiev, he added, "is not interested in a prolonged war", but to win it essentially needs two things from the West: "a real oil embargo" and arms supplies, in particular "tanks, planes and artillery".

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Kiev, on Azovstal use incendiary or phosphorus bombs

The Russians threw phosphorus or incendiary bombs at the Azovstal steel mill. The mayor's adviser Petro Andryushchenko denounces this, according to Ukrainian media reports. "Yesterday the occupants used phosphorus or incendiary bombs for the first time against the defenders of Mariupol," writes Andryushchenko on Telegram, specifying that "the same occupants claim that 9M22C incendiary projectiles with thermite layers were used. The combustion temperature it is about 2-2.5 thousand degrees Celsius. It is almost impossible to stop the burning. Hell has come down to earth at Azovstal. "

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NATO, "Ukraine can win"

"There was a constructive atmosphere in the debate last night". This was stated by one of the NATO deputy secretaries, Mircea Geoana, on the sidelines of the informal NATO summit of foreign ministers in Berlin, commenting on last night's dinner with Finland and Sweden. "Ukraine can win," he also said.

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Affected military infrastructure in the Lviv region

Russian missiles hit military infrastructure in the Lviv region at dawn this morning. This was reported by the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform, citing the Lviv regional military administration. "This morning at about 4.30 a part of the military infrastructure was hit by a missile attack," the regional military administration said on Telegram, stating that at the moment no casualties are reported and the damage is being investigated.

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Blinken in Berlin to discuss sustained action towards Moscow

"I arrived in Berlin where I will informally meet with the foreign ministers of NATO countries to discuss our alliance and sustained action to address Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken writes in a post on Twitter tonight.

(Unioneonline)

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