(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted to NATO’s decision to take in Sweden and Finland by saying they’re welcome to join the military alliance.

NATO enlargement to include the Nordic nations is “a totally different thing” compared to a potential membership for Ukraine, Putin said late Wednesday in Turkmenistan, according to the Kremlin. If NATO decides to place military personnel and infrastructure in Sweden and Finland, Russia will have to respond in kind, he added.

America’s top spy meanwhile sees a “grinding struggle” ahead for Russia in Ukraine, with Putin’s military able to make incremental gains but no significant breakthrough. Indonesian President Joko Widodo is due to meet Putin on Thursday after holding talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

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Key Developments

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  • Top US Spy Sees ‘Grinding Struggle’ Ahead for Russia in Ukraine

On the Ground

Russia is pressing ahead with its goal of occupying the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Kremlin forces are closing in on Lysychansk, Ukraine’s last major foothold in Luhansk. Russian missiles continued to strike Ukrainian cities away from the front lines, keeping up a barrage that has intensified over the last several days. Fighting is raging near the Lysychansk oil refinery, according to Ukraine’s military and regional governor Serhiy Haidai.

(All times CET)

NATO Expansion to Deter Russia: Levits (8 a.m.)

Latvian President Egils Levits said the formalities for Sweden and Finland joining NATO will be completed “in one to two weeks” and their accession is designed to help the military alliance deter a newly aggressive Russia.

“NATO is a defensive alliance and when new threats arise the whole purpose of NATO is to react to guarantee the security of its members,” Levits said Thursday in an interview with Germany’s Deutschlandfunk radio. “The goal is to be so strong that a potential aggressor -- and in this case that is Russia -- doesn’t think about attacking NATO.”

Draghi Rushes Home for Meeting on Energy Aid (8 a.m.)

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi rushed back from the NATO summit in Madrid to attend a government meeting to approve new aid for families and businesses hit by soaring energy bills.

Italy has already spent more than 30 billion euros ($31.4 billion) on energy assistance, and Draghi has resisted pressure from some of his domestic allies, including Matteo Salvini’s League and the Five Star Movement, to widen the country’s deficit to finance the measures.

Russia Committed War Crime In Mariupol: Amnesty (6:00 a.m.)

Amnesty International accused Russia of committing a war crime when its forces struck a theater in Mariupol in March where hundreds of civilians had been sheltering, killing at least a dozen people and likely many more.

The human rights group commissioned a physicist to construct a model of the blast that leveled the theater. Its investigation concluded the most plausible cause was a deliberate air strike most likely using two 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) bombs.

Ukraine has said Russia killed 300 people in the strike and US President Joe Biden called Putin a war criminal after news emerged that the theater sheltering civilians had been targeted. Russia accused Ukraine of mounting what it said was a “false flag” operation.

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