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Added on the 31/08/2022 12:28:19 - Copyright : France 24 EN
The NATO flag is hoisted at a military base in the Swedish capital Stockholm, symbolising the Nordic country's accession into the military alliance. On 7 March 2024, Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO in the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, turning the page on two centuries of non-alignment. IMAGES
Sweden joining NATO shows Russian President Vladimir Putin "failed" in his Ukrainian war strategy of weakening the alliance, its chief Jens Stoltenberg says. The Kremlin's invasion not only prompted formerly non-aligned nations Sweden and Finland to come under NATO's defence umbrella, but now "Ukraine is closer to NATO membership than ever before," Stoltenberg adds. SOUNDBITE
NATO forces cross the Vistula River at Korzeniewo in Poland as part of the US-led defence alliance's Exercise Dragon 24, involving around 4,500 soldiers and almost 1,000 vehicles. Dragon 24 is itself part of Exercise Steadfast Defender 24, NATO's largest military exercise since the Cold War, which is designed to test its defences in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine. IMAGES
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomes his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau in the Polish capital Warsaw. During an earlier visit to Kyiv on the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine, Trudeau appeared to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of assassinating his political opponent Alexei Navalny. IMAGES
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls the invasion of Ukraine a "strategic failure" for Russia, pointing to Western unity and Moscow's losses. Russian President Vladimir "Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine has been a strategic failure -- greatly diminishing Russia's power, its interests and its influence for years to come," Blinken says in a speech in Helsinki. SOUNDBITE
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg expresses scepticism regarding China's plan to end the war in Ukraine, arguing that Beijing "doesn't have much credibility". SOUNDBITE