FAZ early thinkers: How does Putin react to NATO

1. Sweden and Finland want to submit NATO application

2. Ukraine regains territories

3. FDP does not want to govern in North Rhine-Westphalia

Daniel Mohr

Editor in the economy of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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1. Sweden and Finland want to submit NATO application

The time could come this Tuesday: the traditional alliance neutrality of the Nordic countries is coming to an end.

Putin is relaxed.

Era:

Sweden has been non-aligned for more than 200 years.

In the parliamentary debate on NATO accession, Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said: "We are leaving one era and entering a new one." Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in Helsinki: "The only country that threatens European security and is now openly uniting it Russia is waging aggressive war.” This Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest, Finland and Sweden intend to jointly submit their application for membership in NATO.

(Not) a problem:

Russia's President Vladimir Putin was deliberately relaxed in his reaction.

He has "no problem" with Finland and Sweden.

The expansion of NATO to include these states "does not create any immediate threats to Russia," Putin said on Monday at the summit of the defense alliance ODKB, which includes various successor states of the Soviet Union.

However, Putin immediately threatened: "The extension of military infrastructure to these areas will necessarily provoke our response reaction".

These will be made dependent on “the threats that are created for us there”.

The enlargement is taking place “in the interest of the USA” and is creating a problem “out of nowhere”.

State visit:

The Finnish President is expected to pay a state visit to Stockholm today, Tuesday, and was invited and received by the King of Sweden.

In Sweden in particular, the urge to join NATO came very suddenly.

As recently as March, Prime Minister Andersson expressed skepticism, noting that an application in this situation could destabilize security in the region and increase tensions.

But now when asked how we can best protect Sweden, she has come to a different answer.

more on the subject

2. Ukraine regains territories

Russian troops have probably had to withdraw from the second largest Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.

This was the first major counter-offensive in Ukraine to be successful.

Border post:

A video from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense shows soldiers erecting a border post north of Kiev on the Russian border.

Russian troops should have started an “orderly retreat” from the contested region.

While the authenticity of the video has not been verified, numerous reports, including those from the renowned independent Institute for the Study of War, indicate that the Russians suffered a second ignominious defeat after the Battle of Kyiv.

Under Control:

Apparently, the Ukrainian troops managed to take control of the entire area north of the city up to the border.

This is an important success for the Ukrainians.

Kharkiv, which had a population of around 1.5 million before the start of the war, is now completely beyond the range of Russian field artillery, which can fire up to 25 kilometers with standard ammunition.

The Russians had been doing this for weeks, causing heavy destruction especially in the northern and eastern districts of the city.