EU Hikes Military Aid For Ukraine As NATO Expansion Faces Roadblocks

Kyiv, Ukraine, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th May, 2022 ) :Europe pledged another half billion Dollars in military support for Kyiv on Friday as Sweden and Finland's moves toward joining NATO hit multiple hurdles.

Moscow said it would cut off electricity to Helsinki, and the president of Turkey -- a member of the Atlantic alliance whose approval is required to expand it -- expressed opposition to the Scandinavian countries becoming part of NATO.

Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops continued along the long front in the Donbas with minor gains on both sides, and Ukrainian fighters under siege in a Mariupol steelworks pleaded for help.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu meanwhile spoke directly for the first time since before the war began.

One day after leaders in Helsinki declared their nation must apply to join NATO "without delay," Russian state energy group Inter RAO said it would suspend electricity supplies to Finland beginning Saturday.

Inter RAO's subsidiary in the Nordic region blamed the suspension on not having received payment for electricity sold in May.

Noting that only 10 percent of the country's electricity comes from neighbouring Russia, the Finnish electricity network operator said it would be able to make do without Russian electricity.

"We're prepared for this and it won't be difficult. We can make do with a bit more imports from Sweden and Norway," said Timo Kaukonen, manager for operational planning at Finnish power firm Fingrid.