The US-led military bloc “expected miracles” of Kiev’s troops, an American officer told the British newspaper NATO was overly optimistic about the Ukrainian military’s ability to regain ground before its summer counteroffensive, The Times reported on Saturday, citing an unnamed US officer. The British newspaper noted that officials in Kiev had begun blaming their Western…

Finnish FM Elina Valtonen says Helsinki doesn’t expect Moscow to attack, but still seeks to maintain a strong defensive posture Russia poses no imminent military threat to Finland, the Nordic country’s foreign minister, Elina Valtonen, has said. The diplomat, however, insisted that Helsinki’s decision to join NATO in 2022 was justified, accusing Moscow of using…

Japanese energy company SODECO has decided to retain its 30% stake in the new entity that will manage the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East, Japan’s Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura announced on Friday.