US confident on Finland, Sweden NATO bids

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced confidence Sunday that Sweden and Finland would join NATO once they formally apply despite Turkey's voiced concerns, report agencies.
"The United states would strongly support the NATO application by either Sweden or Finland should they choose to formally apply to the alliance," Blinken told reporters after NATO foreign ministers met in Berlin.
He said he heard "almost across-the-board very strong support" for the NATO bids.
"I'm very confident that we will reach consensus," he said.
Report from Ankara adds: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Sunday lauded Finland's conciliatory approach but criticised Sweden for "provocative" statements during talks in Berlin on the two countries joining NATO.
Turkey on Friday threatened to block NATO's enlargement process with the two Nordic countries, which requires the unanimous approval of the alliance's members.
"The Swedish foreign minister's statements are unfortunately not constructive. She continues to make provocative remarks," Cavusoglu told reporters in Berlin on the sidelines of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers.
The minister struck a more conciliatory tone towards Finland, which he described as "very respectful" in the face of Ankara's "concerns".
"But we don't see the same thing in Sweden," he insisted.
In Ukraine the front lines in Ukraine had shifted on Sunday as Russia made advances in the fiercely contested eastern Donbas region and Ukraine's military waged a counteroffensive near the strategic Russian-held city of Izium.
Near the northeastern city of Kharkiv, where Ukrainian forces have been on the attack since early this month, commanders said they believed Russia had been withdrawing troops to reinforce positions around Izium to the south.
Ukraine has scored a series of successes since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, forcing Russia's commanders to abandon an advance on the capital Kyiv and then making rapid gains to drive them from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city.
Moscow's invasion, which it calls a "special operation" to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists, has jolted European security. Kyiv and its Western allies say the fascism assertion is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression.
Since mid-April, Russian forces have focused much of their firepower on trying to capture two provinces known as the Donbas after failing to take Kyiv.
An assessment by British military intelligence issued on Sunday said Russia had lost about a third of the ground combat force deployed in February. Its Donbas offensive had fallen "significantly behind schedule" and was unlikely to make rapid advances during the coming 30 days, the assessment said.
On Saturday night, Ukraine received a morale boost with victory in the Eurovision Song Contest, a triumph seen as sign of the strength of popular support for Ukraine across Europe. read more
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the win, but said the situation in Donbas remained very difficult and Russian forces were still trying to salvage some kind of victory in a region riven by conflict since 2014.