Turkey’s Parliament unanimously approved Finland’s membership to NATO, clearing the final hurdle for the Nordic country’s ascension to the 74-year old defense alliance. Ankara is still holding out on Sweden’s membership, however.
The step for Finland, which comes after months of stalling by NATO members Turkey and Hungary, marks a historic foreign policy shift and a significant setback for Russia, which often refers to NATO’s expansion as an existential threat. Finland’s addition to the alliance will add 830 miles of NATO territory along Russia’s border.
Ukraine is marking the one-year anniversary of the Bucha massacre, during which Ukraine says retreating Russian forces killed hundreds of civilians in and around their homes in the suburb outside Kyiv. International investigators have spent the last year compiling evidence to charge Russian forces with committing atrocities, which the Kremlin denies.
Meanwhile, the White House says it has new evidence that Russia is seeking an arms-for-food deal with North Korea. Washington previously declassified intelligence revealing that Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group has received weapons from North Korea to aid in its fighting in Ukraine.
Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan Gershkovich, remains detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on suspicion of espionage. Russia’s security service, the FSB, announced his detention Thursday and claimed without evidence that he was “collecting information constituting a state secret” at the instruction of the United States.
