Europe

BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) - The European Commission is set to propose on Wednesday a new package of financial aid to Ukraine including new loans to provide immediate liquidity to Kyiv and commitments for the long-term financing of the country's reconstruction, officials said.

The size of the short-term financial support is still being defined but two officials familiar with the discussions told Reuters they expected it to roughly cover Ukraine's financial needs for two months, largely through loans.

BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) - EU foreign ministers sought to publicly pressure Hungary on Monday to lift its veto of a proposed oil embargo on Russia, with Lithuania saying the bloc was being "held hostage by one member state".

The ban on crude imports proposed by the European Commission in early May would be its harshest sanction yet in response to Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and includes carve-outs for EU states most dependent on Russian oil.

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Monday that Russia would respond if NATO began to bolster the military infrastructure of Sweden and Finland which have both decided to join the U.S. military alliance after the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin, Russia's paramount leader since the last day of 1999, has repeatedly cited the post-Soviet enlargement of the NATO alliance eastwards towards Russia's borders as a reason for the conflict of Ukraine.

STOCKHOLM, May 16 (Reuters) - Sweden will start diplomatic discussions with Turkey to try to overcome Ankara's objections to its plan to join NATO, Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said, with a formal decision to apply for membership of the 30-nation alliance expected on Monday.

Sweden's governing Social Democrats dropped their 73-year opposition to joining NATO on Sunday and are hoping for a quick accession, following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

RUSKA LOZOVA, Ukraine/KYIV, May 16 (Reuters) - Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian forces back from the northeastern city of Kharkiv and some have advanced as far as the border with Russia, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.

The developments, if confirmed, would signal a further shift in momentum in favour of Ukraine nearly three months into a conflict that began when Russia sent tens of thousands of troops over the border into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

STOCKHOLM, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's ruling Social Democratic Party (SAP) granted on Sunday support for the country's North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership application, marking a fundamental change of the party's position as a staunch opponent of military alignment.

"We Social Democrats believe that the best thing for Sweden's security is that we join NATO," Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, also leader of SAP, told a press conference here after the party's extraordinary meeting.

HELSINKI, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Finland's president and the government's foreign policy committee on Sunday took the official decision to start the process of the country's application to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday renewed British threats to break a Brexit agreement with the European Union, blaming it for a political crisis that’s blocking the formation of a new government in Northern Ireland.

Ahead of a visit to Belfast, Johnson said there would be “a necessity to act” if the EU doesn’t agree to overhaul post-Brexit trade rules that he says are destabilizing Northern Ireland’s delicate political balance.

15 May 2022; MEMO: Finland's President Sauli Niinisto confirmed on Sunday that his country would apply for membership of the NATO military alliance, in a historic policy shift prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Moscow, which shares a 1,300 km (800 mile) border with Finland, has said it would be a mistake for Helsinki to join the 30-strong transatlantic alliance and that it would harm bilateral ties.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s efforts to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine appeared to be bogged down on Monday, as a small group of countries opposed a ban on imports of Russian oil.

Since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, the bloc has implemented five rounds of sanctions on Moscow. President Vladimir Putin, senior officials, more than 350 lawmakers and pro-Kremlin oligarchs were hit with asset freezes and travel bans. Banks, the transport sector and alleged propaganda outlets were targeted.