FINLAND

A roundup of key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

With the shadow of neighbouring Russia's war in Ukraine looming large, Finland's conscripts conduct military drills, keeping the rust off their mortars and rifles as the Nordic nation prepares for the worst. Breaking with a long-standing non-alignment in military matters, Finland officially applied to become a member of NATO in response to Russia's invasion.

Pakistan's new foreign minister says the United States and his country must move beyond past tensions over Afghanistan and are entering a new engagement after years of strained relations under former Prime Minister Imran Khan. (May 20)

Energy cutoff comes after Finland and neighbor Sweden formally applied to join NATO this week.

At the heart of Turkey’s threat to stop NATO’s Nordic expansion is a clash of viewpoints over Kurdish political groups. Sweden, which along with Finland is seeking entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been one of Europe’s most willing recipients of migrants fleeing conflict, including Kurds. Turkey opposes Kurdish demands for statehood and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called Sweden a “nesting ground for terrorist organizations.” Since NATO admits new members only by

Gasum, Finland's state-owned gas wholesaler, said in a statement that natural gas imports from Russia will be halted on Saturday.

Sweden and Finland’s accession into NATO was supposed to be straightforward. But then Turkey entered the stage.

The president said the decisions by Finland and Sweden to abandon their decades-old positions of military non-alignment proved that a “revived NATO” could provide a strong counterweight to Russia.

Biden said Thursday he was sending paperwork to Congress to ratify Finland and Sweden's application to join NATO. The ratification process is expected to pass with bipartisan support.

"I am proud to assure them that they have the full, total, complete backing of the United States of America," the president said.

The countries offer key geographic advantages, which would enhance NATO’s defenses, should they join.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "We have told allies that we will say no to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says he is ”confident that we will come to a quick decision to welcome both Sweden and Finland to join the NATO family” despite Turkey’s opposition.

President Biden will meet Thursday with the leaders of Finland and Sweden after both nations formally applied to join NATO this week.

At the heart of Turkey’s threat to stop NATO’s Nordic expansion is a clash of viewpoints over Kurdish political groups. Sweden, which along with Finland is seeking entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been one of Europe’s most willing recipients of migrants fleeing conflict, including Kurds. Turkey opposes Kurdish demands for statehood and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called Sweden a “nesting ground for terrorist organizations.” Since NATO admits new members only by

Russia has become increasingly isolated from the rest of Europe over 30 years, and maps of the continent illustrate just how drastic the change has been.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday he's in “intense contacts” with Russia and other countries to stop escalating global hunger exacerbated by the war in Ukraine by allowing the export of grain stored in Ukrainian ports and ensuring Russian food and fertilizers have unrestricted access to world markets.

(Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)As Finland and Sweden’s political leadership posture to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)—Russian President Vladimir Putin’s worst nightmare—Putin is suddenly projecting calm, stating just this week that he has “no problems” with Finland and Sweden joining the collective defense organization.“As for the expansion, including the accession of two prospective new members, Finland and Sweden, I would like to inform you, colleagues, that Russia has

At stake for the U.S. and its NATO partners is an opportunity to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine by strengthening and expanding the alliance.

At the heart of Turkey’s threat to stop NATO’s Nordic expansion is a clash of viewpoints over Kurdish political groups. Sweden, which along with Finland is seeking entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been one of Europe’s most willing recipients of migrants fleeing conflict, including Kurds. Turkey opposes Kurdish demands for statehood and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called Sweden a “nesting ground for terrorist organizations.” Since NATO admits new members only by

A top Finnish diplomat tells CBS News his country would bolster the transatlantic alliance, but even without membership, Finland has its own "credible deterrence."

The 30 member countries of the military alliance are expected to take up to two weeks to evaluate the applications.

The moves, driven by security concerns over Russia's war in Ukraine​, come despite Kremlin warnings that doing so would be a "grave mistake."

The military administration for the region that includes Melitopol has reported more actions of resistance against the Russian troops who have occupied the southern city since early in the war.

NATO diplomats say national envoys have failed to reach a consensus about whether to start membership talks with Finland and Sweden.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet his Turkish counterpart on Wednesday amid the contradictory signals from Ankara over the expected applications from Finland and Sweden.

The two countries have dramatically shifted their thinking on security since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The United States is struggling to get clarity from Turkey over the severity of its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

Finland and Sweden will join the alliance, spurring debate about the move’s long-term consequences.

President Joe Biden will host leaders of Sweden and Finland at the White House for a meeting Thursday as the two nations seek to join NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey, which joined the alliance in 1952, is a crucial player in NATO, boating the second-largest military in the 30-member group after the United States.

Sweden has signed a formal request to join NATO, a day after it announced it would seek membership in the 30-member military alliance

Sweden and Finland have pushed ahead with their bids to join NATO even as Turkey insists it won’t let the previously nonaligned Nordic countries into the alliance because of their alleged support for Kurdish militants.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman says the Russian military is holding more than 3,000 civilians from Mariupol at another former penal colony near Olenivka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

Finland's bunkers have soccer pitches, playgrounds and cafeterias — and are also designed to protect citizens from attack.

Analyst Mikhail Khodaryonok said "virtually the entire world is against us" and that Russian viewers should be aware of the situation in Ukraine.

Putin said Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO did not represent an imminent danger to Russia, but he warned the same would not be true if NATO staged a military buildup in the two countries.

Sweden and Finland bring a lot to NATO militarily – in the air, on land, at sea, and in the intelligence domain.

As Finland and Sweden's leaders seek the reassurance of NATO defense, CBS News tours a nuclear bunker in Helsinki – part of the legacy of Russia's last invasion.

Public opinion in both countries was firmly against joining NATO before Russia invaded Ukraine, but support for NATO membership surged shortly after.

Finland and Sweden say they want to join NATO in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Moscow is scrambling to adjust to a new security picture in Europe brought about by its invasion of Ukraine, where fighting is ravaging the east.

With Finland and Sweden both announcing their bids to join the Western military alliance NATO on Sunday, all eyes are on how Russia will react.

Despite their orientation toward the US and western Europe, Finland and Sweden since the Cold War have bet that their national security was best protected by staying out of NATO. They had aimed to avoid disturbing the military balance in the Baltic Sea region and provoking Russia. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its demands to stop NATO expansion have now pushed both countries to seek entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

With its military bogged down in a grinding conflict in eastern Ukraine, Russia also lost diplomatic ground over the weekend as two more European nations moved closer to joining NATO. Finland announced Sunday that it was seeking to join the alliance, saying Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly three months ago had changed Europe’s security landscape.

Luke Hughes scored with 1:57 left in overtime to complete the United States’ comeback from two goals behind to edge Austria 3-2 at the ice hockey world championship.

Kyiv residents get an unexpected boost after Ukraine swept to victory at the Eurovision Song Contest with an infectious hip-hop folk melody. The win has raised spirits in the embattled nation which fighting off a Russian invasion that has killed thousands and displaced millions of people.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says Finland and Sweden would be “important additions” to NATO.

For years, President Vladimir Putin of Russia has viewed the expansion of NATO as an existential threat that would leave Russia hemmed in with Western missiles on its doorstep. Now, Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine seems to be bringing the Russian leader’s nightmare to life, with NATO on the brink of starting its largest potential expansion in nearly two decades. After navigating the postwar era in nonalignment and neutrality, Sweden and Finland are now actively exploring ascension to the military a

Ukraine said it was holding off Russian offensives Sunday in the country's east.

The announcement came as NATO foreign ministers, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met in Berlin to discuss Ukraine, and Finland and Sweden’s path to membership.

The Finnish Parliament is expected to endorse the decision in coming days.

The Finnish government officially announces its intention to join NATO. Less than three months after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the move is a stunning reversal of Finland's policy on military non-alignment dating back more than 75 years

Russia has warned against expansion of NATO close to its territory. Moscow views NATO's prospective growth as a provocation.

A senior NATO official that Russia's military advance in Ukraine appears to be faltering as Russia's neighbor Finland announced it wants to join the Western military alliance.

Finland changed its policy toward the military alliance after troops invaded Ukraine. Sweden has avoided all military alliances, but like Finland, has also grown closer and closer to NATO over time.

It's a historic move for the Nordic country, which has had a decades-long policy of military neutrality until now.

With Finland and Sweden taking steps to join NATO, the list of “neutral” countries in Europe appears poised to shrink

With Finland and Sweden taking steps to join NATO, the list of “neutral” countries in Europe appears poised to shrink.

Finland’s government has declared a “new era” is underway as it inches closer to seeking NATO membership.

Russia withdrew troops from the border with Finland to send them to Ukraine, leaving Moscow with a significantly reduced capacity to threaten Finland militarily.

Host Finland rallied to beat Latvia 2-1 for a second victory in two games at the ice hockey world championship.

This comes after Finland announced plans to apply for NATO membership.

Finland's President Sauli Niinisto said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday about his plans to apply to NATO in the next few days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned his Finnish counterpart that relations between the two neighbors could be “negatively affected” if Finland follows through with plans to apply for NATO membership.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice and led defending champion Canada to a 5-3 victory over Germany in their opening game at the world ice hockey championship in Helsinki.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country is “not favorable” toward Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

Finland appears on the cusp of joining NATO.

Finland’s leaders say they’re in favor of applying for NATO membership “without delay.”.

Finland’s leaders have come out in favor of applying to join NATO, and Sweden could do the same within days.

Britain has pledged to come to the aid of Sweden and Finland, including with military support, if the two Nordic nations came under attack under security deals Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed with his Swedish counterpart in Stockholm and the Finnish president in Helsinki.

The question of whether to join NATO is coming to a head this week in Finland and Sweden, where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shattered the long-held belief that remaining outside the military alliance was the best way to avoid trouble with their giant neighbor.

War-ravaged Ukraine has received pledges for $6.5 billion more in humanitarian aid at an international donor’s conference in Warsaw.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says that Finland and Sweden would be embraced with open arms should they decide to join the 30-nation military organization and could become members quite quickly.

Through the Cold War and the decades since, nothing could persuade Finns and Swedes that they would be better off joining NATO — until now.

Finland and Sweden have brushed off warnings from neighboring Russia that their possible joining NATO would trigger “serious military-political consequences” from Moscow.

Finland is on top of the hockey world after taking down the ROC to win its first-ever hockey gold at the Olympics.

Results, updates and news from Day 16 of competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Sunday, February 20.

U.S. cross-country skiing star Jessie Diggins rewrote history at the 2022 Winter Olympics going up against some of the biggest names in skiing like Jonna Sundling of Sweden and Therese Johaug of Norway. The women's 30km mass start free closed the curtain on the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The past two years have been some of the most turbulent times for Olympic cross-country skiers, including Finland’s Iivo Niskanen. He savored his gold medal win from the 15km classic event more than his 2014 and 2018 medals after seeing the impact COVID-19 had on Olympic athletes.

Finland is headed to the men's hockey gold medal game after taking down Slovakia 2-0 in the semifinals.

The Norwegian team of Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Erik Valnes solidified captured Olympic gold in the men's team sprint classic.

Finland took down Switzerland by a score of 4-0 to win its third women's hockey bronze in the last four Olympics.

It’s a big day for rematches at the Beijing Olympics: The United States faces Finland in women’s hockey, and Max Parrot takes on Mark McMorris in snowboarding.

Finland put together an incredible comeback against Sweden to stay unbeaten in the men's Olympic hockey tournament.

Finland defeated Japan Saturday morning and will next take on the United States in the women's hockey semifinals.

The U.S. assistant captain was in good spirits as she rolled into the media mixed zone by knee scooter on Thursday.

Finland got the win over Slovakia, but 17-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky had the hockey world buzzing with his two-goal performance.

Goalie Nicole Hensley and forward Hilary Knight put together strong performances for the U.S. en route to an impressive 5-0 win over the ROC to stay unbeaten at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Whatever faint hope there was for the rest of the women’s hockey world closing the gap on Canada and the United States is quickly being dashed three days into the Olympics.

Vlhova has never beaten Shiffrin in a world championship or Olympics slalom.

After routing Switzerland in the first tilt of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Canadians kept their foot on the gas with a dominant showing against Finland.

NBC is offering streams of the 2022 Winter Games.

The U.S. women's hockey team took down Finland in their first game of the 2022 Winter Olympics by a score of 5-2 as both Kendall Coyne Schofield and Alex Carpenter finished the day with a pair of goals each.

Brianna Decker was stretchered off the ice in the United States' game against Finland at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The U.S. took down Finland by a score of 5-2 Thursday morning, but it came at a cost.

Denmark is scraping most pandemic restrictions as the country no longer considers COVID-19 to be “a socially critical disease.”.

Washtenaw County Community Mental Health is creating a hotline as a main access point for substance use treatment in the county.

Christmas is in full swing in Finnish Lapland, where venue operators happily report that visitors have returned in numbers approaching pre-pandemic levels.

An architect-designer in southern Finland has returned to a frozen lake with a snow shovel to draw a large animal on the ice for the sixth year in a row.