Kremlin Makes Threats Against Sweden, Finland's NATO Ambitions, Warning of a 'Rebalancing'

LOCAL NEWS

• Kremlin Spox Peskov issues a thinly veiled threat over Finland & Sweden’s ambitions to join NATO, saying Moscow would have to “rebalance the situation” if they were granted membership.
  • In the same breath, however, Peskov acknowledged “significant losses of troops” – which stands at a contrast to previous statements and may reflect major concerns on the Russian side about the status of the conflict.
  • He also downplayed the cost of sanctions, saying that Russia has been living under sanctions for a couple of decades and are accustomed to them - Sky, bbg, RTRS
• UK MoD says redeployment of Russian troops that were withdrawn from Kyiv will take at least a week to redeploy in Eastern Ukraine.
  • Russia has reiterated that its focus is on liberating the remaining territory of the separatist republics, with analysts expecting fighting in the region to intensify in the coming days/weeks.
  • MoD also said nothing was off the table on arms deliveries to Ukraine following the scenes in Bucha with the West looking to boost support, despite protests from Russia– Sky
• Zelensky say Russia’s suspension from the UN Human rights council is an important step as he urged the West to keep up the pressure on Russia. The US senate also voted yesterday to revoke Russia’s most favoured nation trade status – paving the way for major tariff increases on Russian exports