Finnish parliament passes bill to join Nato

Finland's parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed its bid to join Nato, the assembly's speaker said.

Approval of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's treaties and Finland's accession passed with 184 members of the 200-seat parliament voting in favour, seven against and one abstaining.

New Nato entrants must be approved by all existing members of the Western military alliance, and support for Finland's application remains pending from Turkey and Hungary.

By adopting Nato's founding documents, Finland may get a head start on neighbouring Sweden, which has also applied to join but has had its application held back by Turkey.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said his country is ready to accept Finland into Nato but accuses Sweden of harbouring people he considers members of terrorist groups.

Sweden is also still awaiting approval from Hungary, whose parliament began debating the ratifications on Wednesday and could hold a vote this month.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg last week said he aimed to have both Nordic countries as members in time for a summit scheduled for July.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Finland last May applied to join Nato, having until now relied solely on its own armed forces to defend the 1,300-kilometre (800 mile) border it shares with Russia.

Ukraine 'putting up furious resistance' in Bakhmut, says Wagner chief

Meanwhile, Russian forces carried out relentless attacks on Bakhmut on Wednesday, trying to encircle the small eastern Ukrainian city and claim their first major prize for more than half a year after some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Moscow of throwing waves of men into battle in Bakhmut with no regard for their lives. The leader of Russia's Wagner mercenary group said the Ukrainians were putting up "furious resistance" trying to hold the city at all costs.

Kremlin rejects denials of drone attacks

The Kremlin said that it did not believe a statement by Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak that Ukraine does not attack Russian territory.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after Russian officials blamed Ukraine for several attempted drone strikes, the latest of many inside Russian territory for which Ukraine has not publicly claimed responsibility, reports Al Jazeera.

Asked about Podolyak's denial of Ukrainian attacks, Peskov said, "We don't believe him."

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that the battle for Bakhmut was one of the "most difficult," adding the city's defence was essential.

"Russia in general takes no account of people and sends them in constant waves against our positions, the intensity of the fighting is only increasing," Zelenskyy said.

Russian forces are continuing attacks on Bakhmut.

The Ukrainian military said: "The enemy continues to advance in the direction of Bakhmut. He does not stop storming the city of Bakhmut."

Belarus backs China's peace plan

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during a visit to China that his country fully supports Beijing's peace plan, reports Al Jazeera.

"Today's meeting is taking place at a very difficult time, which calls for new, unorthodox approaches and responsible political decisions," Lukashenko told China's President Xi Jinping.

He added that Belarus "fully supports the initiative on international security that you've put forward."