Ukraine on Sunday said it was holding off Russian offensives Sunday in the country's east, and Western military officials said the campaign Moscow launched there after its forces failed to seize Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, had slowed to a snail's pace.
Britain's Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on Sunday that the Russian army had lost up to one-third of the combat strength it committed to Ukraine in late February and was failing to gain any substantial territory.
“Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days," the ministry said on Twitter.
Britain's Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on Sunday also said that “Russian forces are increasingly constrained by degraded enabling capabilities, continued low morale and reduced combat effectiveness. Many of these capabilities cannot be quickly replaced or reconstituted, and are likely to continue to hinder Russian operations in Ukraine. Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its rate of advance over the next 30 days."
Meanwhile, lawmakers in Finland and Sweden today debated their respective NATO bids, as the two neighbours prepare to submit applications this week as a deterrent against Russian aggression.
Finland officially announced its intention to join NATO on Sunday as Sweden's ruling party said it backed membership, paving the way for a joint application.
The move is a dramatic turnaround from the two countries' military non-alignment policies, dating back more than 75 years for Finland and two centuries for Sweden.
In Helsinki, parliament began a marathon session with over 150 of 200 MPs asking to speak, following a membership proposal presented on Sunday by President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
"Our security environment has fundamentally changed," Marin told parliament.
The two nonaligned Nordic nations becoming part of the alliance would pose an affront to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has cited NATO's post-Cold War expansion in Eastern Europe as a threat to Russia. NATO says it is a purely defensive alliance.
