TOP HEADLINES

• Finland is becoming a member of NATO on Tuesday, finalizing its dramatic security policy shift in response to the Ukraine conflict after decades of non-alignment. Its neighbor Sweden is still waiting for approval amid ongoing disagreements with other member states. READ MORE BELOW

• Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the West of trying to drive a wedge between Russia and China by talking about Moscow's dependence on Beijing. 

• Lavrov added that the EU had "lost" Russia and that Moscow may get tough with Europe if necessary.

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. and the European Union are currently exploring ways to further reduce Europe's dependence on Russian energy.

• U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested on espionage charges in Russia last week, has appealed against his pre-trial detention as Washington continues to "push hard" to facilitate his release.

• Russia's commissioner for children's rights, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges for unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children, has rejected the allegations against her as false and unclear. She added that among the 730,000 refugee children Moscow had accepted from Ukraine's Donbas region, she was not aware of a single case of a child being separated from their blood relatives.

• Russia attacked Ukraine with 17 drones overnight, Ukraine's air force command said early on Tuesday, 14 of which its air-defense systems destroyed.

• Ukraine's eastern military command said Russian forces were "very far" from capturing Bakhmut, despite claims from the Russian mercenary group Wagner that it had taken control of the strategic Donetsk city "in legal terms." 

• Russia's parliament speaker has accused Western leaders of having blood on their hands for supporting Ukraine's Zelenskyy, claiming it had led to the creation of a "terrorist state" in Europe.

• Lithuania has banned Russian nationals from purchasing real estate in the Baltic country, citing risks to national security.

IN DETAIL

Finland becomes NATO member

Finland, which shares a 1,300-km border with Russia, will later on Tuesday join NATO, just over a year after Russia launched its assault on Ukraine, partly in response to what Russia has called the U.S.-led alliance's aggressive eastward expansion.

After decades on non-alignment, Finland will become NATO's 31st member in a flag-raising ceremony at its headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels.

"It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday.

The Ukraine conflict helped convince many Finns that the only way to protect themselves against Russian attack was by seeking security under NATO's collective defense pact, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all.

Russia has said it would boost its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to Finland's accession. Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said Helsinki's accession had increased the risks of a significant expansion of the conflict. 

The event marks the end of an era of military neutrality that began after Nazi-aligned Finland repelled an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union during World War II, later opting to try to maintain friendly relations with neighboring Russia.

Russia's actions in Ukraine also triggered Sweden to apply to NATO alongside Finland, but Stockholm's application has been held up by member states Türkiye and Hungary.

Türkiye says Stockholm is harboring members of what Ankara considers terrorist groups - a charge Sweden denies - and has demanded their extradition before it ratifies Swedish membership.

Hungary is also pushing back against Sweden's admission, citing grievances over criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's democratic record.

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