Russia launches second air strike against Kyiv this month
Russian forces carried out a drone strike against Kyiv early Tuesday, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said on Telegram, according to a Google translation.
Moscow deployed Iranian-made Shahed drones, which were destroyed before they could hit their targets. This was the Kremlin’s second air offensive against the Ukrainian capital this month, Popko said.
“Tonight, our region suffered another attack by the Russians. This time the enemy used drones. The air alert lasted almost two hours,” Kyiv regional military head Ruslan Kravchenko said on Telegram, according to a Google translation. “All enemy targets were shot down by air defense forces. No hits were recorded. There are no victims.”
CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Ukraine’s NATO membership still looks far off as Kyiv pushes to join alliance
The U.S. and some other NATO member states are not willing to allow Ukraine to join the alliance right now, despite Kyiv’s repeated calls to join and insistence that its membership should be approved during this week’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
“In terms of Ukraine itself, President Biden, the Germans, and others, the French, are not willing to give Ukraine membership right now,” Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, told CNBC.Â
“President Biden said after the war is over Ukraine will get the membership,” he said. “The big question of course is if all of the territory of Ukraine is not liberated, what about that? Does that commit NATO to a war against Russia to liberate the Ukrainian territory? Probably not.”
The primary concern among the United States, France and Germany is the role of Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which stipulates that all members must defend any member state that is attacked by a non-NATO state. As a result of that, NATO does not accept new member states that are currently at war or have land occupied by an adversarial power.
“The majority of the alliance stands firmly with us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message Monday.
“When we applied for membership of NATO, we spoke frankly: de facto, Ukraine is already in the alliance,” he said. “Our weapons are the weapons of the alliance. Our values are what the alliance believes in … Vilnius must confirm all this.”
— Natasha Turak
Ukraine says Russian forces carried out 334 air strikes in the last week
A Russian soldier walks in the rubble in Mariupol’s eastern side, where fierce fighting takes place between Russian and pro-Russia forces and Ukraine on March 15, 2022.
Maximilian Clarke | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Ukraine said in the past week Russian forces launched 39 missiles and 334 air strikes across Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram platform.
Meanwhile, Maliar said that Ukrainian forces carried out more than 79 strikes on Russian positions and on 11 ammunition depots. Ukraine also destroyed 24 Russian anti-aircraft missile systems and nearly 40 Iranian-made Shahed precision-attack suicide drones.
— Amanda Macias
Biden welcomes Turkey’s decision to bring Sweden into NATO alliance
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks before signing the agreement for Finland and Sweden to be included in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the East Room of the White House on August 9, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images
President Joe Biden hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to ratify Sweden’s ascension protocols, bringing the Nordic country one step closer to NATO membership.
“I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Türkiye on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area,” Biden wrote in a statement.
“I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister [Ulf] Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO ally. And I thank Secretary General Stoltenberg for his steadfast leadership,” Biden added.
Last May, Sweden and Finland began the formal process of applying to NATO. All 30 members of the alliance have to ratify the countries’ entry into the world’s most powerful military alliance.
Last August, Biden signed ratification documents to bring Finland and Sweden into NATO. In April, Finland joined the alliance as its 31st member.
— Amanda Macias
Turkey agrees to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership, NATO chief says
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson agreed to move forward with Sweden’s ascension to the NATO alliance.
“This is an historic step which makes all NATO allies stronger and safer,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
Sweden formally applied for NATO membership a year ago alongside its Nordic neighbor, Finland.
Both Finland and Sweden already meet many of the requirements to be NATO allies. Some of the requirements include having a functioning democratic political system, a willingness to provide economic transparency and the ability to make military contributions to NATO missions.
Despite some initial sticking points with Turkey, Finland joined the military alliance in April.
— Amanda Macias