Russia–NATO relations

Finland officially became NATO's 31st member after the country's foreign minister signed the accession document and handed it over to United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The signature was the last step of the procedure and was signed in Brussels.

Day 405 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

Finland joined the NATO military alliance Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Russia with a historic realignment of the continent triggered by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

With the handing over of documents, the Nordic nation officially entered the world's biggest security alliance, doubling its border with Russia.

Alamy Photo

Finland's flag will be hoisted outside NATO headquarters on Tuesday when it becomes the 31st member of the Western alliance, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

"Tomorrow we will welcome Finland as the 31st member," Stoltenberg told reporters on the eve of a historic meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

Greece was among seven out of 30 allies to meet NATO's military spending target of 2% of GDP in 2022, one country less than in 2021 before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the alliance's annual report for 2022. 

Speaking ahead of the launch, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged allies to boost defense investment more quickly.

President Vladimir Putin threatened to personally target Boris Johnson with a missile attack just before ordering Russian forces into Ukraine, the former UK prime minister has claimed.

The apparent threat came in a phone call just ahead of the invasion on February 24, according to a new BBC documentary to be broadcast on Monday.

As stated in the announcement, the exercise entitled "Steadfast Noon" will take place on the territory of Belgium, Great Britain and the North Sea, and should last until October 30th. 60 aircraft from 14 NATO countries will participate in the exercise, and for this purpose the United States of America will also send its B-52H strategic bombers.

As he stated, the President of Turkey played a significant role in a number of issues and Russia is grateful to him for that.

Dmitry Medvedev reacted to the statements of the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borell, that the West would give a "powerful military response" in the event of the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

The High Representative of the European Union for foreign policy and security, Josep Borrell, issued a specific threat against Russia in the event that it uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine, reported AFP.