Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO on Tuesday, after completing ratification in well under a year – the fastest membership process in the alliance's recent history. As Western allies strengthen ties, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday that Russia may get “tough” with a hostile European Union. Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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9:09pm: US journalist jailed by Russia met lawyers on Tuesday, says WSJ editor
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested and charged with espionage in Russia last week, met his lawyers on Tuesday, editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said in a message to the newspaper's staff.
"Evan's health is good, and he is grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world," she said in the letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.
8:45pm: Russia summons French diplomat over Ukraine atrocity claims
Russia on Tuesday said it had summoned France's charge d'affaires in Moscow to protest "false publications" by the French embassy about alleged atrocities in Ukraine blamed on the Russian army.
Moscow "strongly protested against the statements published by the embassy on social media", the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "It is categorically unacceptable to make false accusations against our military," the ministry said, accusing France of "actively supplying military equipment and ammunition to the Ukrainian army and thus doing everything possible to prolong hostilities".
According to Moscow, the offending French statements include mention of the massacre attributed to Russian forces in Bucha, a town near Kyiv where the bodies of civilians were discovered after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Moscow has denied any involvement in the deaths and has repeatedly referred to them as being "staged" by Kyiv.
The Russian foreign ministry again on Tuesday referred to "unfounded" accusations, saying it had not seen any evidence of Russian crimes or any "objective investigation" of the facts.
6:31pm: US details new $2.6 billion military aid package for Ukraine
The United States on Tuesday unveiled details of $2.6 billion of new military aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion, including ammunition for HIMARS rocket systems, artillery rounds and small arms.
"The United States will continue... to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements," the Pentagon said in a statement.
6:23pm: Russian café bomb suspect charged with terrorism
Russian investigators on Tuesday charged Darya Trepova, a 26-year-old resident of St Petersburg, with terrorist offences over the killing of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a bomb blast in St Petersburg, and remanded her in pre-trial detention until June 2, Russian news agencies reported.
Tatarsky, a cheerleader for Russia's military campaign in Ukraine whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed on Sunday in a cafe where he was due to talk after Trepova handed him a statuette which exploded shortly thereafter.
The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had charged Trepova with committing "a terrorist act by an organised group that caused intentional death". The charges carry a maximum jail term of 20 years. It said she had acted under instructions from people working on behalf of Ukraine.
Russia's health ministry said 40 other people had been injured in the blast, and 25 were still in hospital on Tuesday morning.
>> St Petersburg café killing exposes Russia’s security woes
6:10pm: UN rights body votes to extend Ukraine war crimes inquiry
The United Nations Human Rights Council has overwhelmingly voted in favour of extending the mandate of an investigative body probing possible war crimes committed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Twenty-eight countries voted in favour of extending the mandate of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine by a year. Seventeen abstained and two voted against the body, which Ukraine says is essential for keeping Russia accountable for its crimes.
"The scope and brutality of Russia's atrocities in Ukraine are simply beyond any human comprehension," Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, told the Council ahead of the vote.
"We strongly believe that the continued work of the Commission in further investigating, documenting and reporting human rights violations and international crimes committed against the people in Ukraine could save more innocent lives (and) could contribute to accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims," she added.
In a report published last month, the commission found that crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including the use of torture and attacks against the country's energy infrastructure, could constitute crimes against humanity.
4:55pm: Macron welcomes Finland, backs Swedish bid
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted a welcome to Finland following its inclusion in NATO and also expressed his support for Sweden's bid.
Finland's membership comes just four years after Macron famously said that NATO was experiencing "brain death" after it failed to respond to Turkey's unilateral invasion of northeast Syria.
4:30pm: Ukraine's Zelensky congratulates Finland on joining NATO
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has become the latest leader to congratulate Finland on joining NATO, hailing the military alliance as the "only effective guarantee of security in the region" in the face of Russian "aggression".
"My sincere congratulations to Finland and President Sauli Niinisto on joining NATO on the 74th anniversary of its founding," Zelensky said on social media.
4:06pm: UN demands access to Ukrainian children deported to Russia
The United Nations Human Rights Council demanded Tuesday that Russia provide access to and information about Ukrainian children and other civilians forcibly transferred to territory under its control.
The top UN rights body passed a resolution demanding that Moscow "cease the unlawful forced transfer and deportation of civilians and other protected persons within Ukraine or to the Russian Federation." The text, which passed with 28 of the 47 council members voting in favour, 17 abstaining and only China and Eritrea opposed, highlighted in particular the transfer of "children, including those from institutional care, unaccompanied children and separated children."
The Kremlin's alleged deportation of tens of thousands of children from war-ravaged Ukraine to Russia or areas occupied by Russia has been a hot-button topic throughout the nearly six-week session of the Geneva-based council.
Kyiv maintains that more than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia as of February this year.
>> Mother Russia: Maria Lvova-Belova, the Putin ally deporting Ukrainian children
401pm: Russia says leaving New START treaty has given it new security options
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday Russia had gained new opportunities to guarantee its security from suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms control treaty, the TASS news agency reported.
Ryabkov also said the West should acknowledge realities after Russia's decision to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus and not "provoke Moscow".
3:55pm: Biden and Scholz welcome Finland into NATO, back Swedish bid
US President Joe Biden has said he is "proud" to welcome Finland into the US-led military alliance, while also urging Turkey and Hungary to conclude their ratification processes for Sweden to join NATO "without delay".
"I look forward to welcoming Sweden as a NATO member as soon as possible," Biden said in a statement.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also offered his support to Sweden's efforts to join the alliance.
Finland's NATO entry was "good news and a win for transatlantic security", Scholz said on Twitter. "Sweden's still pending accession has our full support," he added.
3:30pm: UK congratulates Finland, urges Sweden next for NATO entry
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hailed Finland's "historic" accession to NATO and urged the alliance to admit Sweden next.
"All NATO members now need to take the steps necessary to admit Sweden too, so we can stand together as one alliance to defend freedom in Europe and across the world," Sunak said in a statement, moments after Finland officially joined.
3:20pm: Finland working 'relentlessly' for Sweden to join NATO
Finland will work "relentlessly" to secure Sweden's membership of NATO, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has said, shortly after his own country formally became the 31st member of the Atlantic alliance.
"Finland's membership is not complete without Swedish membership. The work for Sweden's early membership continues relentlessly," Niinisto said in a statement.
Finland and Sweden applied together to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but two of NATO's existing members – Hungary and Turkey – have still to ratify Sweden's membership application.
Analysts do not expect Turkey to ratify Sweden's application until after Turkey's May 14 election at the earliest. Even then, it is unclear what would trigger a change of heart by President Tayyip Erdogan, should he remain in power.
>> Read more: Sweden’s bid to join NATO meets continued resistance from Turkey
2:55pm: Finland formally joins NATO military alliance
Finland has formally joined the NATO military alliance in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, drawing a threat from Moscow of "countermeasures".
Finland's accession roughly doubles the length of the border that NATO shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in sight.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto completed the accession process by handing over an official document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, welcoming Finland to its ranks, noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had cited opposing NATO expansion as one justification for his invasion.
"He is getting exactly the opposite... Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full-fledged member of the alliance," Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
2:37pm: Russian wanted by US says escaped house arrest in Italy, back in Russia
The son of a senior Russian official arrested in Italy at Washington's request reappeared in Russia on Tuesday after escaping house arrest.
"I'm in Russia! In these few particularly dramatic days, I had strong and reliable people by my side. I want to thank them," Artyom Uss, the son of the governor of the Siberian region of Krasnoyarsk, told the RIA Novosti state-run news agency.
Uss disappeared late March, the day after an Italian court approved his extradition to the United States.
Italian authorities arrested Uss on October 17 following a request from Washington, which accused him of having illegally sold US technologies to Russian arms companies.
Uss was one of five Russians arrested at Washington's request for "unlawful schemes to export powerful" US military technology to Russia.
2:10pm: Russia charges St Petersburg bomb suspect with terrorism
Russian investigators on Tuesday formally charged Darya Trepova, a 26-year old women, with terrorism offences over the killing of pro-war military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in a bomb blast in a St Petersburg cafe on Sunday.
Tatarsky, a cheerleader for Russia's military campaign in Ukraine whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed on Sunday when an explosion ripped through a cafe where he was due to talk.
The Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it had charged Trepova with committing "a terrorist act by an organised group that caused intentional death".
It said she had acted under instructions from people working on behalf of Ukraine.
11:35am: Russian defence minister says Finland joining NATO raises risk of conflict
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that Finland's accession to the NATO military alliance and NATO's move to increase its own combat-readiness increased the risk of conflict.
Shoigu also said that some Belarusian military jets were now capable of carrying nuclear warheads and that Iskander rocket systems had been transferred to Belarus, which could be used to carry conventional or nuclear missiles.
11:32am: Finland set to bring strategic importance, added military power to NATO
10:56am: Lithuania bans Russians from purchasing real estate
Lithuania's parliament decided on Tuesday to ban Russian nationals from purchasing real estate in the Baltic country, citing risks to national security.
The ban, which will be in place until 2024, would not apply to Russians who are granted residency in the country
10:10am: Russian children's commission dismisses ICC war crime allegations
Russia's commission for children's rights, whose boss was accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) alongside Vladimir Putin of war crimes in Ukraine, said on Tuesday that the ICC's allegations were unclear.
It said in a statement it had also not received any documents about the case from the ICC, whose jurisdiction Russia does not recognise.
10:08am: China has 'moral duty' to contribute to peace in Ukraine, EU's Borrell says
China has a moral duty to contribute to the establishment of peace in Ukraine, and must not support the aggressor in the war started by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union's top diplomat said on Tuesday.
"China has a moral duty to contribute to a fair peace, they cannot be siding with the aggressor," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels.
7:32am: Finland set to join NATO as 31st member
Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO on Tuesday, in a historic strategic shift provoked by Moscow's war on Ukraine, which doubles the US-led alliance's border with Russia.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels Finland's foreign minister will hand over the formal accession papers to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the keeper of NATO's founding treaty.
Then the country's blue-and-white flag will be raised next to those of its new allies, between those of Estonia and France, in front of the gleaming headquarters in Brussels.
"This is really an historic day. It's a great day for the alliance," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
6:45am: Russians, Belarusians set to return at taekwondo world championships
Russian and Belarusian taekwondo athletes are set to compete at next month's world championships after the sport's global governing body said it would allow them back as neutrals following the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) guidance.
The IOC issued recommendations last week for athletes from the two countries to return to international competition since their ban last year in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation".
Table tennis, fencing and judo are the other Olympic sports which have readmitted Russians and Belarusians as neutrals.
3:53am: Russia launches 17 drones on Ukraine, 14 destroyed
Russia sent 17 Iranian-made Shahed drones to attack Ukraine overnight, Ukraine's Air Force command said early on Tuesday, with its air-defence systems destroying 14 of them.
"In total, up to 17 launches of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) attacks were recorded, presumably from the eastern coast area of the Sea of Azov," the command said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
12:00am: Lavrov says Russia may get 'tough' with hostile Europe
The European Union has become hostile and has "lost" Russia, and Moscow will deal with Europe in a tough fashion if need be, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday.
"The European Union has 'lost Russia. But it is its own fault," Lavrov told the website Argumenty i Fatky. "It is the EU member countries and EU leaders who openly declare it is necessary to inflict, as they call it, a strategic defeat on Russia."
Lavrov said Russia had decided how to approach Europe as it was supplying the "criminal regime" in Kyiv with weapons and instructors.
Key developments from Monday, April 3:
Russia's Vladimir Putin has posthumously decorated high-profile military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky with Russia’s Order of Courage. Tatarsky, whose real name was Maxim Fomin, was killed in an explosion at a St Petersburg café on Sunday. Russian officials have detained 26-year-old woman Darya Trepova on suspicions that she carried out the bomb attack.
Evan Gershkovich, the US journalist who was arrested in Russia last week on spying claims, is appealing his detention, a Moscow court said. Gershkovich, 31, is believed to be the first foreign journalist arrested on spying allegations since the collapse of the Soviet Union. His arrest has drawn outrage from the West and is seen as a serious escalation of Moscow's crackdown on the media.
>> Read our live blog for all of yesterday's developments as they unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
