Zelenskiy fails to secure formal Nato invitation; woman killed in Russian shelling of Kherson
Nato has said in an ascension plan that “Ukraine’s future” is in the alliance and the country will join when “allies agree and conditions are met” but has failed to provide a timeline for when that will happen. “Allies will continue to support and review Ukraine’s progress on interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms that are required,” a communiqué published by alliance members said. Nato has said Ukraine cannot join its ranks while the war with Russia continues. Its leaders on Tuesday reiterated a 2008 declaration that Ukraine would join but also made clear it would not happen automatically after the war ended.
Nato’s plans on Ukraine’s membership prompted President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to say he has “faith” but not confidence in the alliance’s decisions. Before Nato published the communiqué, the Ukrainian leader said it would be “absurd” if Ukraine was not offered Nato membership.
Germany found traces of subsea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that it suspects “may have been used to transport the explosives” to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, it told the UN security council in a letter with Sweden and Denmark. A series of unexplained explosions hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea last September in the exclusive economic zones of Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
A senior Russian draft officer and former submarine commander accused by Ukraine of deadly strikes on its territory has been shot dead while jogging in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar.
