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Finland, Sweden to Send Teams to Turkey to Discuss NATO Bids, Haavisto Says

Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)
Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)
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Finland, Sweden to Send Teams to Turkey to Discuss NATO Bids, Haavisto Says

Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)
Pekka Haavisto, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland of Finland, addresses a panel session during the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, 24 May 2022. (EPA)

Finland and Sweden will send delegations to Ankara on Wednesday to try to resolve Turkish opposition to their applications for membership of the NATO military alliance, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday.

"We are sending our delegations to visit Ankara, actually both Sweden and Finland. This will happen tomorrow, so the dialogue is continuing," Haavisto said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, held phone calls with the leaders of the two Nordic countries on Saturday and discussed his concerns.

Turkey says Sweden and Finland harbor people linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

"We understand that Turkey has some of their own security concerns vis a vis terrorism ... We think that these issues can be settled. There might be also some issues that are not linked directly to Finland and Sweden but more to other NATO members," Haavisto said.

Erdogan told Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Saturday that Ankara expected concrete steps to address its concerns, according to the Turkish presidency. He also said an arms exports embargo imposed on Turkey after its Syria incursion in 2019 should be lifted, it added.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Saturday he had held "open and direct" talks on the phone with Erdogan.

"I stated that as NATO allies Finland and Turkey will commit to each other's security and our relationship will thus grow stronger," Niinisto tweeted after the call.

Erdogan spoke also with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Saturday, telling him that Ankara would not look positively on Sweden and Finland's NATO bids unless they clearly show cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other issues.

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World

Türkiye Detains 209 in Raids in the Capital of Ankara ahead of July's NATO Summit

Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
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Türkiye Detains 209 in Raids in the Capital of Ankara ahead of July's NATO Summit

Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal
Turkish riot police stand guard in front of the Justice Palace in Istanbul March 31, 2015. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Security forces in the Turkish capital carried out sweeping raids on Tuesday ahead of next month’s NATO summit, and detained more than 200 people with suspected links to extremist groups, including the ISIS group.

US President Donald Trump is expected to join other leaders of the 32‑member alliance in Ankara for the July 7–8 summit, The Associate Press reported.

Türkiye is planning strict security measures for the summit, including banning demonstrations and restricting access to roads leading to airports, as well as sealing off areas around the summit venue and hotels hosting delegations.

The government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has prioritized security and authorities regularly carry out security raids. Last month, security forces detained 324 people suspected of links to the ISIS group in a nationwide sweep.

Early on Tuesday, Turkish prosecutors issued detention orders for 241 suspects, and 209 of them were subsequently taken into custody in police and gendarmerie raids around Ankara, according to a statement from the chief prosecutor’s office. The raids were still underway later Tuesday to take in the rest of the suspects.

Among those detained were 56 alleged ISIS militants and 35 members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front, a far‑left group known for armed attacks and assassinations in Türkiye.

The ISIS group has also carried out numerous deadly attacks in Türkiye, including the 2017 New Year’s Eve shooting at an Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people.

World

Russian Strikes Injure Six in Ukraine as Fuel Crisis Deepens into Siberia

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian air attack in in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian air attack in in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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Russian Strikes Injure Six in Ukraine as Fuel Crisis Deepens into Siberia

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian air attack in in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian air attack in in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Six people were wounded in Russian air strikes on Ukraine overnight on Tuesday, local authorities said, while Russia's ongoing fuel crisis deepened into parts of Siberia.

The strikes came in the wake of a Ukrainian attack on a plant producing electronics for missiles in Russia's border Voronezh region on Monday that killed five people and injured dozens, according to the local governor.

Russia and Ukraine have continued to exchange strikes as the war has dragged into a fifth year. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has sought support from Western allies for a peace deal while also pushing for ‌fast-track admission to ‌the European Union.

Two people sought medical help after Russian forces struck the southeastern ‌region ⁠of Zaporizhzhia, Governor ⁠Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram, and three more people were wounded in Sumy, in the north, late on Monday, emergency services said.

One woman was injured in a drone attack on Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram on Monday evening. Early on Tuesday, Kyiv authorities briefly issued an air raid alert before withdrawing it. Zelenskiy warned last week that Russia was preparing a massive attack — something Moscow has said it would conduct regularly. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022.

Reuters could not independently verify details of the latest strikes.

FUEL ⁠CRISIS DEEPENS FURTHER INTO SIBERIA

Ukrainian attacks on maritime logistics and supply ‌roads have sparked a fuel crisis in Russia and areas of ‌Ukraine it controls. Kyiv's intensified air strikes on Russian energy infrastructure hit targets as far away as Siberia, more than ‌2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) from the front line, undermining the availability of gasoline and diesel in Russia, ‌the world's third-largest oil producer.

The fuel crisis has spread from Russia-annexed Crimea to areas in the center and east and has also covered Siberian regions of Novosibirsk, home to city of the same name, Russia's third largest, and Omsk close to Kazakhstan's border.

The Omsk region, about 2,500 kilometers southeast of Moscow, is limiting fuel sales and the nearby Novosibirsk ‌region is preparing to do the same, local governors said on Telegram.

The move was "to avoid artificially creating panic buying at gas stations and speculation," ⁠Omsk Governor Vitaly Khotsenko said ⁠in a post on the platform on Monday evening, adding that sales of gasoline would be limited to 40 liters per car and diesel to between 80 and 200 liters, depending on location.

Sales of fuel for use in refueling cans would be banned, he said. The Novosibirsk region was also about to introduce restrictions to "prevent speculative demand," Governor Andrei Travnikov said.

From Tuesday, Lukoil, Russia's second biggest oil producer, was limiting gasoline and diesel sales in Voronezh region, the regional government said on Telegram.

Russia's war on Ukraine has prompted Europe to increase defense spending and partner with Kyiv on possible drone production. The conflict has spurred Sweden and Finland, until recently members of the EU but not NATO, to join the alliance.

Foreign fighter jets escorted Russian strategic missile-carrying bombers during their 16-hour flight — which included air-to-air refueling — in the neutral zone over the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea, Russia's defense ministry said on Tuesday.

Russia borders NATO members Norway and Finland. The defense ministry did not provide details on the origin of the foreign jets.

World

North Korea's Kim Vows to Accelerate Military Buildup

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026). EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026). EPA/KCNA
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North Korea's Kim Vows to Accelerate Military Buildup

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026). EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026). EPA/KCNA

Kim Jong Un vowed to beef up North Korea's defense capabilities, citing military modernization efforts by South Korea and the United States pushing the region "to the brink of a nuclear war", state media reported Tuesday.

Pyongyang is under multiple sets of sanctions over its nuclear program, and the two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, AFP said.

"Comrade Kim Jong Un in his concluding speech reaffirmed the steadfast policy stand of our Party and state to beef up the national defense capabilities faster," the official Korean Central News Agency quoted the leader as saying.

The speech was delivered as Kim presided over a three-day meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea that wrapped up on Monday, during which senior officials reviewed policy initiatives, KCNA said.

It quoted Kim as saying "the US and the ROK are pushing forward with the ROK's possession of a nuclear submarine while getting evermore undisguised in their moves towards the reinforcement and modernization of armed forces in the region", referring to South Korea by the acronym of its official name.

According to KCNA, Kim said such moves were "pushing the situation in the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war".

In the face of such developments, it was the "steadfast stand" of the North to "further expand and strengthen the powerful and absolutely reliable deterrent for self-defense", Kim said.

- 'Line of no retreat' -

KCNA said the meeting "unanimously recognized that to steadily expand and strengthen the nuclear forces... is the most correct and unique way to actively and confidently cope with the unpredictable international military and political situation".

It added the North's development of a war deterrent "with nuclear technology as a basis" would proceed "at increasing speed".

Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state since a 2019 summit between Kim and Trump in Hanoi collapsed over the scope of denuclearization and sanctions relief.

Kim's powerful sister, Yo Jong, said this month the North's nuclear policy was a "line of no retreat", reiterating the regime's position that it has no intention of giving up its nuclear arsenal.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said last week that US counterpart Donald Trump had told him it was time to "pay attention to the North Korea issue".

He told reporters he had told Trump at a meeting of the G7 in France that sanctions on the North were "ineffective."

"I also said that we can no longer deal with the North Korean nuclear issue in the same way we deal with other countries, and President Trump agreed," Lee added.