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German authorities have detained a Syrian man on suspicion of planning to carry out an explosives attack motivated by Islamic extremism, officials said Tuesday. Federal police said officers detained the 28-year-old man early Tuesday in the northern city of Hamburg. Investigators say the man is suspected of trying to obtain substances online that would have allowed him to manufacturer an explosive belt “in order to carry out an attack against civilian targets.” Police say the man was encouraged and supported in his action by his 24-year-old brother, who lives in the southern town of Kempten. The men, whose names weren't immediately released, are described as being motivated by “radical Islamist and jihadist” views. Authorities said they had no information indicating a concrete target for the planned attack. Police searched properties in Hamburg and Kempten, seizing large amounts of evidence including chemical substances, officials said. Some 250 officers were involved in the operation. Germany's top security official thanked police, saying their actions “have prevented possible Islamist attack plans.” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the case showed that the danger of Islamic extremism remained high and pledged that German security agencies would continue to take all information about such threats seriously. “Germany remains a direct target of Islamist terrorist organizations," she said. "Islamist-motivated lone perpetrators are another significant threat.”

A Russian missile hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city on Tuesday, killing one of its workers and wounding 10 other people, part of a relentless barrage that comes as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive. Ukrainian officials said the Russian military used S-300 air defense missiles to attack Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the center of the city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency responders examining the damage. “The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely," Zelenskyy said. “Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.” Also Read: Russia's invasion of Ukraine reveals US ammunition stockpile was unprepared to support a major, ongoing land war Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said that three people were hospitalized, seven received minor injuries and two others were still believed to be under the debris. Emergency responders were working to recover them. Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion and was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counteroffensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swaths of the Kharkiv region. A woman also died in Russian shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office. Also Read: Russia's air force accidentally bombs its own city The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a new massive counteroffensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons and fresh troops that were trained in the West. Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released Monday, described the planned counteroffensive as a “landmark battle in Ukraine’s modern history” that will see the country “reclaim significant areas.”

The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russia’s top diplomat as he chaired a U.N. meeting Monday, accusing Moscow of violating the U.N. Charter by attacking Ukraine and occupying part of its territory. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by defending his country’s military action and accusing the U.S. and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the U.N.’s 193 member nations the organization’s “beating heart” and “guiding vision,” and he warned the Security Council that global collaboration is under the greatest strain since the creation of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II. Tensions between major powers are at a “historic high” and so are the risks of conflict “through misadventure or miscalculation,” he said, pointing first and foremost to the war in Ukraine. The U.N. secretary-general and the ambassadors of the U.S., Britain, France and their allies all pointed to the U.N. Charter’s underlying principle requiring all countries to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every nation — which Russia violated by invading its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and illegally annexing several regions. Russia convened the ministerial meeting on making “multilateralism” — when countries work together — more effective through the defense of the U.N. Charter, calling it the high point of its month-long presidency of the Security Council. It has been the most contentious presidency in the memory of longtime U.N. diplomats and officials, and Monday’s meeting added to the antagonism. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia a “hypocritical convener” of the meeting whose “illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary” war in Ukraine “struck at the heart of the U.N. Charter and all that we hold dear.” Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the world has seen “what Russia’s idea of multilateralism means for the world” — the trampling of the U.N. Charter and a war that has brought unimaginable suffering to Ukraine and been “an unmitigated disaster for Russia, too.” The 27-member European Union called Russia’s attempt to portray itself as a defender of the U.N. Charter and multilateralism “cynical,” saying it is “in contempt” not only of the U.N. Charter but U.N. General Assembly resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces. But Lavrov defended what Moscow calls its “special military operation,” reiterating accusations that Ukraine was promoting “Nazi practices” and banning the Russian language and culture, and NATO was planning to expand into Ukraine. He stressed, however, that “it’s not all about Ukraine” but what he called the West’s plans to leverage the Ukrainian government in the hope of weakening Russia. “We cannot consider the Ukrainian issue separately from the geopolitical context,” Lavrov said. “It’s about how international relations will continue to be shaped through the establishment of a sound consensus on the basis of balance of interests, or through aggressive and volatile advancement of Washington’s hegemony.” Lavrov strongly criticized NATO members’ activities in the Western Pacific, specifically the alliance between Australia, Britain and the U.S., and also strengthening U.S. ties with Japan, South Korea and a number of Southeast Asian countries. Lavrov also accused the U.S. Embassy in Moscow of blocking Russian journalists from accompanying him to New York by approving their visas only after his plane left. The Russian minister stressed that multilateralism is a key part of the U.N. Charter and accused the United States and its allies of “destroying globalization” despite touting its benefits. Lavrov said the West is promoting a “rules-based order” where nobody has seen the rules and which bars access to modern technologies and financial services to punish countries it disagrees with. The West has imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. “Let’s call a spade a spade. Nobody allowed the Western minority to speak on behalf of all humankind,” he said. Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador, told the council that Russia’s actions during the 14-month war show that the invasion of Ukraine isn’t an isolated incident. “This does not just concern Ukraine or Europe,” she said. “It concerns all of us. Because today it’s Ukraine, But tomorrow it could be another country, another small nation that is invaded by its larger neighbor.” There were about 50 countries that spoke, and many pointed to the increasing confrontation among U.N. member nations. They stressed the importance of preserving multilateralism, including by reforming the Security Council to reflect the 21st century world instead of the post-World War II power structure. “The world is standing at a historic crossroads now,” China’s U.N. Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council. “Humanity is facing unprecedented global challenges. Acts of hegemony and bullying are causing colossal harm to the world. Politics are creating huge divisions and confrontations. It has become all the more urgent and important to uphold the U.N. Charter.”

With the return of calm seas, migrant smugglers launched dozens of boats from Tunisia during the weekend and some 1,200 people ended up on a tiny Italian island while several were reported missing at sea, the Italian Coast Guard said Monday. Coast guard officials said in a statement that they responded to 35 boats that had left Tunisia, three of which came to grief. In one shipwreck some 20 nautical miles off Lampedusa island coast guard and border police vessels said three migrants were missing. In a second, in Malta’s search-and-rescue area, survivors said some 20 people were missing, while in the third, also in Malta’s rescue area, Italian rescuers recovered a man’s body, the Coast Guard said. Some 20 more boats crowded with migrants were in the sea Monday night, it said. The coast guard said air and naval assets of the Coast Guard, the Border Police, the European border protection agency Frontex as well as a humanitarian organization were involved in the assistance. Dozens of the migrants sat Monday morning near Lampedusa’s port, awaiting transfer to the island’s overcrowded shelter or eventually to Sicily or the Italian mainland. Earlier Monday, a Tunisian fishing boat off Lampedusa aided a distressed migrant boat carrying 34 people and a body, and the survivors were later transferred to an Italian coast guard vessel, Italian news reports said. On Sunday, with seas calm after four days of rough conditions, a total of 640 migrants reached Lampedusa, and hundreds more on Monday. Last week, Italian authorities used commercial ferries and military vessels to transfer migrants from Lampedusa to Sicily or the mainland — bringing Lampedusa’s migrant center below its approximately 400-person capacity. But with the slew of boats arriving from Sunday, the number of migrants there quickly swelled, and authorities were scrambling anew to make arrangement for more transfers off the island. Separately, the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said its rescue vessel Geo Barents came to the aid of 75 migrants — including 40 minors — in a wooden boat foundering in international waters off Libya on Monday. The rescue vessel must now wait for Italian authorities to assign it a port to disembark the migrants. The right-wing government has been sending charity vessels to ports in northern Italy, far from the rescue area, to try to limit their time at sea. Government officials contend that the vessels encourage illegal migration by providing safety to the smugglers’ passengers. Although far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni has led a crackdown both on smugglers and on the charity vessels, migrants keep risking dangerous voyages in the Central Mediterranean — departing from Tunisia, Libya and Turkey — in hopes of finding work or relatives in Europe. According to Italian Interior Ministry figures, by Monday morning more than 36,600 migrants had arrived in Italy since the start of the year. That’s more than four times the number for the same period in each of the two previous years. Italy rejects most of their asylum bids because they are fleeing poverty, not war or persecution. But, since barely a handful of countries have repatriation accords with Italy, the migrants who lose asylum bids often stay on for years in a legal limbo, or try to make their way to northern European countries. Italy’s pleas to fellow European Union nations to take on some of the migrants have largely gone unheeded for years now.

King Charles III is a man in a hurry. After waiting nearly 74 years to become king, Charles has used his first six months on the throne to meet faith leaders across the country, reshuffle royal residences, stage his first overseas state visit and hold a sleepover at Windsor Castle that included the coach of the England soccer team. Then there was the big news: He opened the royal archives to researchers investigating the crown’s links to slavery. “We are already surprised by the Prince Charles who was turned into King Charles and who we still call Prince Charles, because that’s how we think of him,” quipped royal historian Robert Lacey. “But, actually, he’s become a monarch quicker than people expected.” With the coronation less than two weeks away, Charles and the Buckingham Palace machine are working at top speed to show the new king at work. And the public is seeing a new kind of sovereign as he tries to slim down the monarchy and show that it is still relevant in a modern, multi-cultural nation where reverence for Queen Elizabeth II muted criticism during her 70 years on the throne. Out is the matronly decorum that characterized Elizabeth's reign. In is a more human monarch, who held back tears as he addressed the nation after his mother’s death and threw a mini-tantrum when a pen leaked on his fingers while signing a book in Northern Ireland. The public had a good laugh. The king now carries his own pen for signing emergencies. While Elizabeth progressed grandly through meetings with subjects who bowed and curtseyed before her, King Charles sat on the floor with the congregation during a visit to a gurdwara, or Sikh house of worship, in Luton, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) northwest of London. On his first state visit, he displayed an ability to properly roll his R's while flipping between German and English in a speech to the Bundestag, the German parliament. Germans were impressed. Britons were surprised. Who knew he could speak German? Read: Oil for Charles III's coronation consecrated in Jerusalem It's as if Charles, long derided as gray and stiff, has just stepped into the room. With extreme subtlety, his personality is starting to show, such as with the ever-changing pocket squares that give a dash of color to his conservative suits. “Charles, the monarch, with his faults and virtues, has become a subject of more genuine interest,'' said Lacey, the author of “Battle of Brothers: William & Harry and the Inside Story of Family in Tumult.'' “I mean, what pocket handkerchief is he going to wear? Maybe this will become the equivalent of the queen’s handbag.” One reason Charles is so eager to get started may be because he knows he won’t have much time to make his mark. The man who waited a lifetime to be king alluded to the march of time during a white tie dinner at the presidential palace in Berlin, saying he hoped he and Camilla would “live long enough’’ to return to see the sapling they had just planted grow into a tree. But there are speed bumps on the horizon, some linked to history, others to family. Charles tried to get ahead of the history question by promising openness about the crown’s links to slavery, but some think that commitment fell short. Laura Trevelyan, whose ancestors enslaved at least 1,000 people on the island of Grenada, says the king should do what her family did and apologize. “I hope that he will use some of the wealth that the royal family accumulated from the slave trade to better the lives of people in the Caribbean and in Britain who are descendants of the enslaved,” she told the Times of London. Then there is family. Charles continues to fend off criticism from Prince Harry, whose memoir “Spare” painted his father as distant and unsympathetic toward a son who struggled with the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Harry also contended the royal family should have done more to accept his wife, Meghan, a biracial American. Read: UK King Charles eyes continuing strong, close partnership with Bangladesh Hugo Vickers, a royal historian and author of “Coronation: The Crowning of Elizabeth II,’’ compared the new king’s accession to the throne with being named chairman of a global corporation at a time when most people have retired. It’s a job where he will face questions of religion, the armed forces and politics, in addition to running the royal household and mediating family feuds. “It’s a big thing to take on at that age,” Vickers said of Charles, who turns 75 in November. "So, yes, I suspect he’s a man in a hurry." But on another level, Charles’ long apprenticeship may also be an advantage, giving him more training and experiences to draw upon than his mother, who was just 25 when she became queen. While Elizabeth, like all British monarchs before her, was educated by tutors, Charles was bundled off to Hill House School in London just shy of age 8 to begin experiencing the world outside the palace. Richard Townend, the son of the school's founder, was a contemporary of Charles’ at Hill House. Townend said his father created the school as an antidote to what he had seen as a soldier, thinking that children who learned about other cultures would be less likely to wage war as adults. “What he wanted to do was to make a school, which was quite unlike other schools at the time, in which half the children were not English,” Townend said. “They came from all over the world, so the children would learn to live with each other, different nationalities, different people, different colors, different races, different religions." "He felt passionately that if children learned to live in peace with each other, then the world could only get better.'' Charles eventually earned a degree in history from the University of Cambridge and spent six years in the Royal Navy before leaving to focus on his duties as heir to the throne. As Prince of Wales he founded charities, including one that helps young people get jobs, education and training. He started an organic food company and dabbled in urban planning. Charles was also an early advocate for conservation and environmental protection. That said, he ruffled feathers when he lobbied government ministers and spoke out against projects he thought threatened Britain’s historic architecture, drawing complaints that he had violated the prohibition against royals intervening in politics. But the biggest controversy of Charles’ life was the breakdown of his marriage to Princess Diana amid stories about his long-time relationship with the woman who would become his second wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles. Many people still remember Charles’ admission of adultery and the leaked tapes of intimate conversations between Charles and Camilla, including one in which he compared himself to a tampon. It took Charles years to shake off the failure of his first marriage, and many people were slow to accept Camilla. In “Spare,'' Harry wrote bitterly of the palace’s effort to rehabilitate Camilla’s image, suggesting that unflattering and untrue stories about him were leaked to the media in exchange for more glowing portraits of the senior royals. Over time, Camilla’s charity work, her sense of humor and down-to-earth style won over the public, and she moved from being home wrecker to queen. She will be crowned alongside her husband at Westminster Abbey. “This is a man who has overcome problems and hurdles,” said Lacey, the historical consultant to the Netflix series "The Crown.'' “He’s loved despite the problems that he’s been through. He’s loved for his mistakes as well as for his virtues. We’re getting a rounded figure, and that’s what a personal represented monarchy is all about.”    

When a powerful blast shook a Russian city near the border of Ukraine residents thought it was an Ukrainian attack. But the Russian military quickly acknowledged that it was a bomb accidentally dropped by one of its own warplanes. Belgorod, a city of 340,000 about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the border, has faced regular drone attacks that Russian authorities blame on the Ukrainian military, but the explosion late Thursday was far more powerful than anything its residents had heard before. Witnesses reported a low hissing sound followed by a blast that made nearby apartment buildings tremble and threw a car on a store roof. It left a 20-meter (66-foot) -wide crater in the middle of a tree-lined boulevard flanked by apartment buildings, shattering their windows, damaging several cars and injuring two residents. A third person was later hospitalized with hypertension. Immediately after the explosion, Russian commentators and military bloggers were abuzz with theories about what weapon Ukraine had used for the attack. Many called for a powerful retribution. But about an hour later, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that the explosion was caused by a weapon accidentally dropped by one of its own Su-34 bombers. It didn't offer any further details, but military experts said the weapon likely was a powerful 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) bomb. In Thursday's blast, the weapon was apparently set to explode with a small delay after impact, to hit underground facilities. Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said that local authorities decided to temporarily resettle residents of a nine-story apartment building near the blast while it was inspected to make sure it hadn't suffered irreparable structural damage. The explosion in Belgorod followed the crash of a Russian warplane next to a residential building in the port city of Yeysk on the Sea of Azov that killed 15 people. Yeysk hosts a big Russian air base with warplanes flying missions over Ukraine. Military experts have noted that as the number of Russian military flights have increased sharply during the fighting, so have the crashes and accidents.  

U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab resigned Friday after an independent investigation into complaints that he bullied civil servants. Raab's announcement on Friday came the day after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak received findings into eight formal complaints that Raab, who is also justice secretary, had been abusive toward staff during a previous stint in that office and while serving as foreign secretary and Brexit secretary. Raab, 49, denied claims he belittled and demeaned his staff and said he "behaved professionally at all times," but had said he would resign if the bullying complaints were upheld. Sunak received the report Thursday morning and was carefully considering the findings but didn't immediately make a decision, spokesperson Max Blain said.  

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg defiantly declared Thursday that Ukraine deserves to join the military alliance and pledged continuing support for the country on his first visit to Kyiv since Russia’s invasion just over a year ago. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Stoltenberg, who has been instrumental in marshaling support from NATO’s members, to push for even more from them, including warplanes, artillery and armored equipment. The Kremlin has given various justifications for going to war, but repeated Thursday that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO was a key goal behind its invasion, arguing that Kyiv’s membership in the alliance would pose an existential threat to Russia. NATO leaders said in 2008 that Ukraine would join the alliance one day, and Stoltenberg has repeated that promise throughout the course of the war — though the organization has established no pathway or timetable for membership. “Let me be clear, Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family,” Stoltenberg told a press conference. “Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO.” He said he and Zelenskyy discussed a NATO support program. “This will help you transition from Soviet-era equipment and doctrines to NATO standards and ensure full interoperability with the alliance,” Stoltenberg said. “NATO stands with you today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes.” He noted Thursday’s announcement by Denmark and the Netherlands that they plan to provide Ukraine with at least another 14 refurbished Leopard 2 battle tanks from early 2024. He added that he expected countries to “make new announcements of concrete military support to Ukraine” at a meeting Germany on Friday. The fighting in recent months has become a war of attrition, with neither side able to gain momentum. But Ukraine is expected to launch a counteroffensive in coming weeks, and it has recently received sophisticated weapons from its Western allies. NATO has no official presence in Ukraine and provides only provides nonlethal support to Kyiv, but Stoltenberg has been the strong voice of the alliance throughout the war. A procession of international leaders has made the journey to Kyiv over the last year, and the former Norwegian prime minister is one of the last major Western figures to do so. NATO, formed to counter the Soviet Union, has long feared being dragged into a wide war with nuclear-armed Russia, but as the West has moved from hesitantly providing helmets and uniforms to tanks, warplanes and advanced missile systems, high-level visits have become routine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO remains one of the goals of what Moscow calls its “special military operation.” Speaking in a conference call with reporters, Peskov said that Ukraine’s accession would pose a “serious, significant threat to our country, to our country’s security.” Earlier this month, Finland joined the alliance, setting aside decades of neutrality in a historic realignment of Europe’s post-Cold War security landscape. While NATO says it poses no threat to Russia, the Nordic country’s accession dealt a major political blow to Putin Finland’s membership doubles Russia’s border with the world’s biggest security alliance. Neighboring Sweden is expected to join in coming months, too, possibly by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in July. The alliance has focused on bolstering defenses on its own territory to dissuade Putin from attacking any member country. Under NATO’s collective security guarantee, an attack on one member country is considered to be an attack on them all. On Friday, Stoltenberg will attend a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. It’s the main international forum for drumming up military support for the conflict-ravaged country. Meanwhile, the Ukraine Space Agency said Thursday that a bright flash of light in the night sky over the country the previous day was probably a meteorite entering the earth’s atmosphere. Residents of the capital and several cities in Belarus saw the flash of light, which lingered for a couple of seconds, and an explosion was heard in the Kyiv region. It triggered an air raid alarm in Kyiv.  

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was reviewing a long-awaited report he received Thursday on whether his top deputy bullied civil servants. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputy prime minister, has denied multiple complaints that he was overly demanding and that he belittled and demeaned his staff. He said he “behaved professionally at all times,” but would resign if the bullying complaints were upheld. Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, said the prime minister received the report on Raab’s behavior Thursday morning. “He is carefully considering the findings of the report before coming to a judgment,” Blain said. Raab, 49, was first elected to Parliament in 2010 and has served in senior government posts including justice secretary and foreign secretary. Appointed deputy prime minister under Boris Johnson, he briefly took charge of the government when Johnson was hospitalized with COVID-19 in April 2020. Raab, 49, was first elected to Parliament in 2010 and has served in senior government posts including justice secretary and foreign secretary. Appointed deputy prime minister under Boris Johnson, he briefly took charge of the government when Johnson was hospitalized with COVID-19 in April 2020. The report is the latest ethics headache for Sunak, who vowed to restore order and integrity to government after three years of instability under predecessors Johnson — brought down in summer 2022 after multiple scandals — and Liz Truss, who quit in October after six weeks in office when her tax-cutting economic plans sparked mayhem on the financial markets. But he has struggled to shake off opposition allegations that the Conservative government remains mired in scandal and sleaze. Sunak also faces an investigation announced this week by a parliamentary watchdog over whether he properly disclosed his wife’s interest in a company that stands to benefit from a massive boost to free child care in his administration’s budget. A member of his Cabinet, Gavin Williamson, quit in November over bullying claims. In January Sunak fired Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi for failing to come clean about a multimillion-dollar tax dispute. A separate inquiry is underway into claims Johnson secured a loan with the help of a Conservative donor, Richard Sharp, who was later appointed chairman of the BBC.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Ukraine on Thursday for the first time since Russia invaded more than a year ago, a highly symbolic trip that underscores the alliance’s commitment to helping Kyiv defend itself. The Kremlin quickly warned that Ukraine must not be allowed to join NATO. Russia has given various and shifting justifications for going to war, but it has repeatedly pointed to the expansion of the military alliance toward its borders in recent years, including citing fears that Kyiv would be admitted. Images published in local media showed Stoltenberg apparently paying tribute to fallen Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Square. The visit, just two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin himself went to Ukraine, holds important symbolism, but its exact purpose wasn’t immediately clear. NATO has no official presence in Ukraine, but Stoltenberg has been the strong voice of the alliance throughout the war. He has been instrumental in garnering and coordinating support — including weapons, ammunition and training for Ukraine’s embattled troops — from the 31 countries that make up the organization. NATO itself only provides nonlethal support — generators, medical equipment, tents, military uniforms and other supplies — to the government in Kyiv. A procession of international leaders has made the journey to Kyiv over the last year and the former Norwegian prime minister is one of the last major Western figures to do so. NATO, formed to counter the Soviet Union, has long feared being dragged into a wide war with nuclear-armed Russia, but as the West has moved from hesitantly providing helmets and uniforms to tanks, warplanes and advanced missile systems, high-level visits have become routine. Stoltenberg had been to Kyiv before the war, but this is his first visit during the hostilities. NATO leaders said in 2008 that Ukraine would join the alliance one day, and Stoltenberg has repeated that promise throughout the course of the war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that preventing Ukraine from joining NATO remains one of the goals of what Moscow calls its “special military operation.” Speaking in a conference call Thursday with reporters, Peskov said that Ukraine’s accession would pose a “serious, significant threat to our country, to our country’s security.” Earlier this month, Finland joined the alliance, setting aside decades of neutrality in a historic realignment of Europe’s post-Cold War security landscape. While NATO says it poses no threat to Russia, the Nordic country’s accession dealt a major political blow to Putin. Finland’s membership doubles Russia’s border with the world’s biggest security alliance. Neighboring Sweden is expected to join in coming months, too, possibly by the time U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts meet in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in July. The alliance has focused on bolstering defenses on its own territory to dissuade Putin from attacking any member country. Under NATO’s collective security guarantee, an attack on one member country is considered to be an attack on them all. On Friday, Stoltenberg will attend a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. It’s the main international forum for drumming up military support for the conflict-ravaged country. Denmark and the Netherlands announced Thursday that they plan to provide Ukraine with at least 14 refurbished German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks, starting in early 2024. The announcement comes on top of a previous pledge, by Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany, to supply at least 100 older Leopard 1 A5 tanks.