, protected by nato. and 96% of eu territory will be nato territory. so we share much of the same population, much of the shame -- the same neighbors. it makes reason to closely work with nato and the european union, and we have seen in this crisis how the eu has been instrumental, providing support, imposing sanctions, and also coordinating with nato allies, the united states, the united kingdom, and others. i also welcome efforts on defense, because as ursula von der leyen mentioned, the european div -- the european defense industry is a problem for your band made of. there are many cattle tanks. in europe we have quite a few battle tanks and nine different types. no economy of scale. a lot of costs for maintenance, education, and so on. this is almost every capability that there is too much fragmentation. the european defense fund will have to provide new capabilities, will have to overcome the fragmentation of the european defense industry, and will also help to increase defense spending. we welcome i

and since the invasion, all the nato allies have also stepped up their support, so nato and nato allies are providing unprecedented support for ukraine and we are ready to do so for the long haul. i think mr kuleba's point is that, yes, individual nations, no doubt, led by the united states, are giving increased amounts of military and other support to ukraine, but as an institution, as a coherent group of 30 members, mr kuleba sees increasing division and real disagreement about what should be the level of support for ukraine. well, nato as an institution has also provided support for ukraine for many years, but as always when nato do things, we actually do it very often as individual allies. we had our mission in afghanistan and most of that, the troops and the capabilities there, was provided by individual allies, so this is also very much the way nato works, is that we are totally dependent on the contributions from different individual allies for different missions, operations and activities we do in different ways, so nato allies and nato provide support for ukraine. of course, it

and this is why they're joining nato. and i think that's the whole region we, you asked earlier about the landscape strategic landscape has changed dramatically . should this go through, you know, some people described it as a baltic. so you have increased security in an area that, that was a bit of a vacuum for security. so this will change dramatically. and i think this is going to be very hard for putting to explain to the public that are pushing back. you know, it's actually got 2 new members. all right, well we have run out of time, so we're going to have to leave the conversation there. thanks so much. all of our guests on mcnamara, theresa fallon and pablo, fog and howard. and thank you for watching it to see the program again. any time by visiting our website, al jazeera dot com, and for further discussion got our facebook page at facebook dot com forward slash ha inside story. you can also, during the conversation on twitter, i handle is at ha, inside store for me mohammed jim jones, the whole team here feifring

in joining nato. this is about 25 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states, accompanied by the president of the republic of finland and the prime minister of sweden. [band plays "hail to the chief brts] -- "hail to the chief"] pres. biden: please be seated, thank you. it's not only a beautiful day, this is in my view and the view of my team, a momentous day. it's a very, very good day. today i am proud to welcome and offer the strong support of the united states for the applications of two great democracies and two close, highly capable partners, to join the strongest, most power. defensive alliance in the history of the world. two proud, independent countries exercising the sovereign rights all states possess to decide their own security. president niinisto and prime minister andersson, it is great to have you here at the white house. it was out of the wreckage of world war ii that nato was formed. in the seven decades that followed, nato proved itself an indispensable all

obviously countries can apply to join nato and nato can defy them if it wants. the real question is what is the stated policy of washington towards enlargement, what does putin care about? this initial status where there was going to be, instead of drawing a hard line they were going to smear the line by having the peace. it would've accomplished the same thing, all of these places would have become members of nato but it would have caused last friction, it is more about presentation than anything else. let me just close on bob, there are obviously more questions but let me close on bob. he was extremely helpful to me about my book, give me multiple interviews and read parts of the book that were related to his participation and events so i could make sure i had understood them correctly, i do not agree with the idea of scoffing at the russians, they lives of ukrainians are hanging in the balance, and more than that as this conflict escalates which is what is very scary. if there were airstrikes, russian aircraft are straying into international airspace while th

joining nato. interestingly there are many aspects. any hints of time or to focus on one because it's very relevant to new such as broke today. when yeltsin and clinton and one of the times was the bromance is going strong talked about potential russian membership in nato, yeltsin said the clinton you know it's going to be a big problem? the chinese reaction to the chinese are going to be worried about nato suddenly living close to them. size to talk about putin, putting rush into nato, bill, we had to figure out if managed the chinese reaction. just before we went live and learn that putin who is in beijing for the olympics issued a joint statement with president xi. i repeat a joint statement where they join a to criticize the o expansion so in other words, china has now gone on record saying it is opposed to nato enlargement. that is a real signs of support for putin and very difficult for the united states because it you've got three big power centers, moscow, beijing and washington, you don't

the nato minister has himself to blame -- nato ministers say putin has himself to blame after invading ukraine, and the conflict with turkey will result soon. >> i heard almost across the board strong support for finland and nato joining -- and linda sweden joining the nato alliance they choose to. i'm confident. >> all of the nato states have to approve new members, which normally takes months. ministers in berlin to speed this up to prevent the so-called great -- great period in which they would not be protected, which says an attack on one is an attack on all. as soon as finland and sweden applied for nato membership, it was expected the process would be swift, but the turkey position may have slowed it down. no one can say when they were -- will be added to the collection. >> sweden and finland have been nato partners since 1994 and have taken part in several nato missions since the end of the cold war. what's look what they need to be full members. nato candidates must be democracies, have an open market economy and be able to contribute militarily to the alliance. finland and swe

and we can go back into nato enlargement. in this effort to extend a liberal democratic peace and prosperity, nato did something very unorthodox in the sense that it had it put in the pledge of no troops, no new eastwards. so essentially, to reassure russia to, to show russia it timed in a way. and it didn't have very strong provisions up against russia's borders, which of course, the baltic states on the polls had been highlighting for many, many years and nato, to, to reassure russia. i stayed a persistent with this i ride up against or right up until i the illegal annexation of crimea in 2014 and even then the nato read in this action plan our operational atlantic result. and later on the enhanced forward presence. these deployments have been very, very light and scalable. and nato has relied for it's the turns on mobilization, keeping most of its troops in the west and only saying that it will call them all call them in the region. if the security situation on deteriorates further on russia displays even more aggression.

the heart of nato, which hasn't called article five that attack on one state of the nato alliance is a attack on all states of the nato alliance. it is worth remembering here today that the first time article five actually was instituted was after the attack of september 11 2001. it represents a true watershed moment in the history of the nato alliance. it is our great honor to be here for this moment. it is our great honor for us to give our guests the opportunity to enlighten this audience as to the thinking of both of those countries about their own security, and ultimately the collective security of europe. before the conversation gets underway, i would like to take a moment to offer introductory remarks on our guests. you have seen a lot. prior to assuming her role as ambassador, she served as director general or trade in the sweetest ministry of foreign affairs -- swedish ministry of foreign affairs. it started in 1994 with her first hosting to the swedish embassy in moscow. and at the swedish eu representation in brussels working on european security and defense issues. ambass

militarily, look, it has been working alongside nato rather than inside nato. it's military is modern. have heard from the finnish president and prime minister today they think finland would be an asset to nato if and when a join. get a massi change. 1300 kilometer long border with russia most of brush, no secret of the fact of preferred finland not to join nato. good neighborly relations, the country did not apply for nato membership but russia's invasion of ukraine really changed all that. it changed the post-cold war security order in all of europe but nowhere more so than in the east when countries in europe really do feel exposed. if finland and neighboring sweden do as expected, ask to join the military alliance, he will be an old gold for russia because it will really bolster nato's presence right on russia's doorstep. >> let's take a look at the joint statement released by finland's president and prime minister. it says a plan for nato membership without delay. we hope the national steps still needed to make this decision will be taken rapidly and in th

their membership in nato would increase our shared security, demonstrate that nato�*s door is open, and that aggression does not pay. a british military intelligence assessment suggests russia may have lost a third of its ground forces since the start of its invasion of ukraine. pictures have been released of buffalo supermarket shooting suspect payton gendro. president biden has been speaking about the attack... president biden has been speaking about the attack. we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of america. our hearts are heavy once again, but our resolve must never, ever waver. ——payton gendro. the uk government says it wouldn't be deterred from taking action over post—brexit trading arrangements in northern ireland — to try to help restore power—sharing at stormont. and a triumphant ukraine wins the eurovision song contest after claiming the popular vote. good evening. in response to russia's invasion of ukraine — finland and sweden have abandoned their military neutrality and announced their intention to join nato. the allian

of nato. we'll have a country that is half in and half out, that doesn't make any sense, and other complications. there's already some really speculative discussion about nato's role in eastern and central europe. again, speculative but it is. there you can see it in the record, i documented and not one inch. , so baker agrees and in one of the newest documents that i present my book immediately rights back to allies in europe and says forget when i was saying about not when it eastward, that's causing confusion, we're going to drop that language. but it takes moscow a while to notice. and so, putin plays on the sense today that there is a bait and switch back then. when he does that, putin is ignoring what happened at the end of the german unification process, which was the final settlement on german unification in september of 1990. gorbachev in that agreement changed his priorities. he was unable to get that not a large mat pledge in writing. he understood the significance of it, as, himsel

, protected by nato. and 96% of eu territory will be nato territory. so we share much of the same population. we share the same neighbourhood, we share the same challenges. of course, it makes all reason to work closer together, nato and the european union. and we also see during this crisis how the eu has been instrumental in many ways, providing support, imposing sanctions and then also coordinating closely with nato allies, united states, united kingdom and others., and i also welcome eu efforts on defense because as ursula vonm, der leyen just mentioned, for instance, the fragmentation of the european defense industry is a problem for europe and for nato. in the united states, there are many battle tanks and one type. in europe we have quite a few battle tanks and nine different types.in no economy of scale, and a lot of extra costs for maintenance, education, and so on. and this is the case on almost every capability, that there is too much fragmentation. so the european defense fund, pesco, all thes

s. president offered his full backing for finland and sweden's nato bids they meet every nato requirement and then shop the nordic countries race to join the alliances, russia, wages war on ukraine.

white nato is so -- why nato — most brutal way of white nato is so —— why nato is so important as it offensive — —— why nato is so important as it offensive and security union. we all experience — offensive and security union. we all experience on a daily basis, and for the very— experience on a daily basis, and for the very first — experience on a daily basis, and for the very first time that security, peace _ the very first time that security, peace and — the very first time that security, peace and above all freedom is not something — peace and above all freedom is not something that is bestowed upon us from heaven above and guaranteed until kingdom come. i have to say this is— until kingdom come. i have to say this is not— until kingdom come. i have to say this is not an _ until kingdom come. i have to say this is not an easy realisation, it is indeed — this is not an easy realisation, it is indeed a — this is not an easy realisation, it is indeed a painful realisation, because — is indeed a painful realisation, because it _ is indeed a painful realisati

in the midst of this process on nato, nato is a security organization. nice to meet her tongue rich have to have her to unblock the bid by the to scandinavian notions to get access in today. so oh, i don't think so. i think, i mean, he, his trying now to, i don't know to, to negotiate with, with nato, of course, to. yeah. to add it to 2. see if it's, if there are any common interests, also maybe with protein or was nato and to, to, to, to profit from this whole debated process. but he cannot stop it. and actually in russia, nobody's really very surprised that putin is now meeting his buddy added leanne. but no one thinks that this will change anything in the end. on the contrary, and for the 1st time and public television, there was a former military general and speaking out 2ww people audience. and who said, actually that this war is lost, that we russia has to stop this war. of course, this is only a short moment now, and we need many of those moments and we need it. we need shall go to the, to the fence minister to tell, put in this. but still, there

finland takes a step toward joining nato. the leaders say after decades of military nonalignment, the country should join without delay. moscow worrying that nato expansion will be a threat. they are claiming that moscow is responsible for the vast majority of civilian casualties. also, the u.s. president kicks off a global covid-19 summit with a warning against complacency. >> thousands still dying every day. now is the time for us to act. all of us, together. >> as the u.s. marks one million covid-19 deaths, we look at how countries around the world are coping with the pandemic. astronomers casting light on the dark heart of our galaxy. they have revealed the first images of a supermassive black hole at the center of the milky way. i am brent goff. to our viewers and all of the around the world, good to have you with us. tonight, the historic turning point for european security. finland's president calling for their country to apply for nato membership as soon as possible. david -- they said that this would strengthen finla

collective defense that is at the heart of nato, which hasn't called article five of the nato charter were the washington treaty that attack on one state of the nato alliance is an attack on all states of the nato alliance and it's worth remembering here today thatto te first time article five actually was on the attack after september 2001. finland and sweden have chosen to agree to this form of solidarity that in and of itself represents a watershed moment in the history of the nato alliance. it's a great honor to be here for this moment and it's a great honor for us to give our guest the opportunity to enlighten this audience as to the thinking of both of the countries about their own security and ultimately the collective security of europe.pe before the conversation gets underway i would like to take a moment to offer some brief introductory remarks on the guest. she took of her post as ambassador of sweden to the united states in 2017. you have seen a lot. anna prior to assuming the role as ambassador, she served as the director generalen for trade and inthe swedish ministry of

already. nato partners there. accession looked like a done deal, but nato member turkey now says he will not approve the bids present. reggie type heard about repeated his accusation, that sweden fin the harboring members of groups at anchor games terrorists. moscow has described sweden and finland moved as a mistake warning that it would be forced to restore military balance, including the use of nuclear weapons. sweeney succession to data would end 2 centuries of swedish military neutrality by miss magdalena undersold underscore the significance of this change in her country's security policy. without years your vote, it is a historical and considerable chevy for our country. and we are leaving one era and beginning another, we would in an unknown. but we can enter this new era with confidence that because we are doing it with the best of our history, of your disk, of it, the males, the best star of what lance is told l m a corner nautica. the invasion of ukraine shows what russia is prepared to do the most, and we must consider the possibility of russia acting with the same risk takin

and, you know, we hear about nato being revive. never have been this strong and life and you've been saying, hey, things aren't quite as rosy inside the relationship as they're painted to be today . what's wrong from your perspective about nato, and perhaps america's approach to it right now? well, i think nato is united in opposition to the russian invasion. that's the good news . if it wasn't, it would be stunningly bad data native suppose now, where was it? say, 6 months ago. this is a process is they like to say and at the beginning and today, there are still significant divisions within nato, about how to respond, what the outcome should be and a number of other important issues. there are certainly been some improvements, finland in sweden, joining nato, strengthen the alliance. some countries have come to the realization they have to do more in terms of providing for their own self defense and their contribution within nato. but there are still many political disagreements about the road ahead . so i think it's a mistake to

and joining nato. this is about 25 minutes. >> [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states accompanied by the president of the republic of finland and the prime minister of sweden. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> please, please be seated. thank you. >> is not only a beautiful day, this is in my view and the view of my team a momentous day. it's a very, very good day. today, i am proud to welcome and offer the strong support of the united states with the applications t of two great democracies and two close, highly capable partners to join the strongest, most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world. two proud, independent countries exercising their sovereign right all states possess to the side their own security. president niinisto, you are, and prime minister andersson, it's a great and have both of you at the white house as finland and sweden begin the process of joining nato. it was out

is only one part of nato. it is a military organization under collective civilian control. the second thing i would say is, always remember that each of those service chiefs represent a sovereign nation's army or a sovereign nation's military enter treat them with the respect accordingly. and then finally, to consult with routinely and to build consensus as i can. >> thank you, general. thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator scott, please. >> thank you, chair reid. >> general, thank you for being here. thank you for your service and thank you for the visit we had. just recently i went to europe and visited with american troops in germany and lithuania. i went to germany, poland, and lithuania. i was impressed with our troops. from the conversation i had, i was impressed with our eastern european allies. they clearly see the threat and it is important to them. but they are clear that they need our support. they can't do this on their own. there is no nation like the united states, there is no military that is like

also coming up a key moment for nato as ministers gather in berlin, finish, and swedish diplomat to run hand with eyes on joining the military alliance and in buddhist league of football stood god are safe after right from magic final day. if survived to play another season against germany's elite leading to delirium on the field and in the stats plus this a band from ukraine takes the top prize of the massive eurovision song contest to record number of your votes, puts the group callous orchestra and a time country on top. ah, i'm anthony how'd walk into the program? after weeks of heavy bombardment, hockey is breathing a sigh of relief. the ukrainian military claims to have driven russian troops out of the area around the country, 2nd largest city. the shilling, according to regional authorities, has stopped. but he cries president, so these forces elsewhere still lack the means to tip the scales fully in their favor. the lot of miss lensky told a visiting u. s. senate delegation. he needs more powerful weapons. republican leader, mitch mcconnell, leads a u. s. senate delegation on a

it wasn't nato that convinced finland and sweden or pushed finn and sweden to join nato. it was entirely down to the behavior and actions of the russian president because he has basically forced them into this alliance because they wanted to live peacefully with their neighbors. and i very much hope that their accession is approved. so clearly showing signals of hope and optimism for these accession talks to be approved. how likely is that to happen? will to be clear. i mean, turkey does have the ability as a nato ally or to stop another joy country joining nato rules do say that a unanimous agreement by all of the allies is needed for a new alloy to, to join nato. but what is not clear yet, and this is really very fresh, these comments relative to add. one is just how serious he is. if he really does want to go to the point of completely blocking a sweden and finland from joining nato. or if he's, he's known as a leader who's kind of transactional in his diplomacy. if he wants something, if he's out to get some kind of concessions of certainly there you can expect this w

it could be just be made a member of nato, which be breaking all of nato's own rules. i mean, you know, they call, they constantly talk about the rule of law and rules based order, but they break their own rules all the time. obviously ukraine has a territorial conflict with russia. ok, and so what they're doing is they're actually wanting be there. the in fact they want the lines to go into all out with russia because ukraine and russia obviously have a military conflict. but no one is talking about this in a logical fashion in the west. go ahead, sarah. well, 1st of all, ukraine already is a de facto member care of nick, a u. s. command and military machine. that's really what it is, and nato ukraine for a long time. has it's for gates have been involved in the war in iraq, in afghanistan, in all kinds of military war maneuvers and the, with thousands of nato trainers advisors as they're called in the ukraine. there was a equipment just pouring ends really, since 2014. i didn't just begin. so as a de facto member not, not voted anywhere even by the member countries.

nato, poland advocated for ukraine tojoin nato. it of nato, poland advocated for ukraine to join nato. it was of nato, poland advocated for ukraine tojoin nato. it was before the attack on georgia, before crimea, the dundas and this was started by russia this year. a different security situation. probably at that moment, allies would have taken another decision. we would be living in a better world. but unfortunately it was blocked by some of our allies, now we are living with this. nevertheless, it is never too late. it is up to ukraine whether they want tojoin it is up to ukraine whether they want to join nato and when, it is up to ukraine whether they want tojoin nato and when, and whether they are already prepared. it is up to the allies, the allied countries to decide. it doesn't seem that it countries to decide. it doesn't seem thatitis countries to decide. it doesn't seem that it is going to be very, very soon, but it is possible in the case of finland and sweden shows we can do it very fast if we want to do. indeed, that le

nato. this is the scene in helsinki at the moment where government ministers are outlining the proposals. we are expecting that what we have been waiting as announcement, finland will be joining. to discuss why the finns were going tojoin nato, the suggestion is sweden will make a decision on that. the swedish labour party reaching their decision on their policy position later today, we think. this is the scene in helsinki. we are expecting a formal application from the finnish government to nato to allow it to join. we will bring you some extracts from that as soon as we have that. an 18—year—old man has appeared in court charged with murder, after ten people were killed in a shooting at a supermarket in the city of buffalo, in new york state. three others were wounded. of the 13 people shot, 11 were black. police said the gunman, payton gendron, livestreamed the killings. he's suspected of being a white supremacist. nada tawfik reports from new york. a busy grocery store in a predomin

busy all of our future nato partners. there'll be a lot of this information about feeling joining nato, but we're not excessively worried. nothing is going to happen on the eastern flag because of feeling joining nato. this is an interesting mindset, but the close the water potential danger that mo, you sort of get used to it because as well as what the kremlin has said today, we've heard the moscow repeatedly warning that it might deploy nuclear weapons. if finland and sweden was a joint, nate, so, so you see this is just more russian saber rattling, no, it's actually fake news. i mean, we need to remind president former president, but via the nuclear missiles are already there in clinic right around the baltic sea region. but this is the way in which russia trying to intimidate filament sweet and out of the decision of joining nato. of course, the reverse will happen, so the more there are threats, the more popularity for nato membership increases. remember, when this war started, we were down to about 20 percent of the

alliance. finland must apply for nato membership without delay. and this is the 1st step in the process of could see finland roll, but decades of military non alignment enhancement is also expected to put pressure on sweden, which is considering applying to join the western military defense alliance. finland shares of 1300 kilometer border with russia. mood in the country has changed dramatically since moscow's invasion of ukraine as get more i for will go to brussels home of nature and d, w correspondent at max xander. welcome max. so nato has been sending out positive signals about the possibility of finland joining other likely to be any roadblocks . right, so, so at the moment we're not them hearing that there are any major roadblocks on the way to finish nato membership at the moment. what we're hearing right now here in brussels is pretty much a relief at this a step um is likely to be taken and there seems to be a great sense that this will also keep members safe from attacks that were, that, that we're seeing was happening in ukraine at th