Continued NATO expansion and arrest of US journalist reinforce Russia’s isolation in the world

Finland’s advance towards NATO membership and the arrest of an American journalist have exacerbated tensions between Moscow and the West, while the war in Ukraine passed a symbolic milestone on Friday: the invasion large-scale by Russia from the neighboring country began 400 days ago.
On Thursday, the Turkish parliament approved a bill allowing Finland to join NATO. Turkey’s parliament was the latest of 30 members of the North Atlantic Alliance to ratify Finland’s membership after the Hungarian legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week. Sweden is also seeking NATO membership.
NATO countries, especially the United States, Britain and European states, as well as the alliance collectively provide significant military and financial support to the government in Kiev.
“Soon Finland and Sweden will become members (of NATO), which means President Putin is getting the exact opposite of what he wanted,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told AFP. FoxNews. – He wanted to reduce NATO. He will obtain NATO enlargement.
Russia has repeatedly accused the West and NATO of playing a direct role in the war in Ukraine by supplying weapons to Kiev, and warned that NATO-supplied weapons were “legitimate targets” for its armed forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke in his Thursday evening video address of the “great path” his country has come in during the 400 days of resistance to Russian aggression.
“Ukraine will win ahead. We will not leave a single trace of Russia on our land, and we will not leave a single enemy unpunished. We are preparing news about this,” he said. did not provide details, but it is known that the Ukrainian army is planning a counter-offensive.
Earlier Thursday, The Wall Street Journal denied spying allegations against its correspondent, Evan Hershkowitz, and demanded his immediate release. The Kremlin said he was “caught in the act”, but offered no evidence.
The White House condemned Russia’s actions and called on American citizens living or traveling in Russia to leave the country immediately.
“These espionage charges are ridiculous. The persecution of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing.
Russia’s Federal Security Service said Gershkovich, 31, who had worked as a journalist in Russia for six years, was arrested in Yekaterinburg “on suspicion of spying for the US government”.
He was taken to Moscow, where the court, behind closed doors, decided to keep him in pre-trial detention until May 29. According to Russian law, espionage is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Western political analysts have suggested that Moscow might try to swap Gershkovich for one of the Russians held in the United States, or use him for diplomatic leverage in some other way.
Ukraine said on Thursday that Russian troops were continuing their offensive against Bakhmut and nearby towns, as well as Avdiivka and its surroundings.
The small mining town of Bakhmut became the site of Europe’s bloodiest ground battle since World War II.
“Our defense is holding the city and repelling many enemy attacks,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff said in a Facebook post late Thursday.
A day earlier, the Ukrainian military said Moscow had made progress in Bakhmut. Yevhen Dykyy, a Ukrainian military analyst who was interviewed by Ukrainian Radio on Thursday, said Russian troops control more than half of the city.
“I can tell you that Bakhmut is holding up. But heavy fighting is going on in the city and they are getting closer to the city center. If the Russian troops would have made “some progress”, it is probably because they crossed the Bakhmutka river. They were coming wave after wave, and we are talking about several hundred meters,” Dikiy added.
A month ago, it seemed that the Ukrainian army would leave Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian armed forces decided to stay and fight for the city, hoping to break the attacking forces.
Sergiy Zgurets, director of Ukrainian defense publication Defense Express, wrote in a column on Ukrainian television’s Espreso website Thursday that Zelenskyy is determined to defend Bakhmut because the loss would give Russia leverage that could force the Ukraine to make concessions.