Home SECURITY & DEFENCE Finland welcomed into NATO alliance as Putin languishes in splendid isolation

Finland welcomed into NATO alliance as Putin languishes in splendid isolation

Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg the accession, saying: “It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole.”

by gary cartwright

At their meeting in Brussels today, NATO allies will address Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine, and are expected to agree to start work on developing a multi-year programme of support.

Turkey, the last member nation to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand its official texts to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday as NATO foreign ministers gather. Stoltenberg said he would then invite Finland to do the same.

They will also discuss threats and challenges from the South, the importance of increased defence investment, and China’s growing alignment with Russia. NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners and the European Union will also join for a discussion on the global consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, sees his own sphere of influence shrinking as post-Soviet Central Asian countries and others turn their backs on him. Faced with an international arrest warrant for war crimes committed since the start of his illegal invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, he is largely unable to travel outside Russia’s borders.

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