Live blog: ++ Selenskyj arrived in Moldova for the European summit ++

President of Ukraine Zelenskyy personally attends the European summit in Moldova. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg emphasizes that Russia has no right of veto when admitting new members. All developments in the live blog.

Poland has closed the EU’s eastern border with Belarus to trucks from the neighboring country and Russia. The ban announced by the government in Warsaw, effective June 1, came into force last night, according to the Polish news agency PAP. It applies to trucks, tractor units and combinations with trailers or semi-trailers registered in either country.

Russia – with support from Belarus – has been at war with Ukraine for more than 15 months. Poland is one of their main supporters. The Polish Ministry of the Interior announced the restrictions on freight traffic at the beginning of the week.

According to Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, NATO’s door is basically open to other members. This applies above all to Sweden and also to Ukraine, Baerbock said before the Alliance’s foreign ministers met in Oslo.

With regard to Ukraine, however, she emphasized: “At the same time, it is also clear that we cannot talk about new membership in the middle of a war.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally attends the summit of the new European Political Community (EPC) in Moldova. Zelenskyj was welcomed in Bulboaca by Moldova’s President Maia Sandu.

According to Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, Sweden is on the home straight in the struggle to join NATO. “This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, and we’re seeing the end of it,” Billstrom said ahead of NATO foreign ministers’ deliberations in Oslo. His country meets all the requirements for admission to the transatlantic alliance. Turkey and Hungary must now ratify the accession, demands Billstrom.

Ukraine should be shown a “very clear path” to joining NATO, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said during a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo.

Russia has no right of veto on the question of accepting new NATO members, explained the Secretary General of the western military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, before the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Oslo.

All NATO members agree that Ukraine must be included in the alliance. When the war in Ukraine is over, steps must be taken to ensure that no more Russian aggression can occur.

According to the authorities, at least five people were injured by intense shelling in the western Russian region of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that the small town of Shebekino was under “unending fire” from Ukrainian forces. Both the center and the outskirts had been fired at by Soviet-made “Grad” multiple rocket launchers since midnight.

There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side. In many cases, the information from the war zone can hardly be verified by an independent party.

The foreign ministers of the NATO member states continue their informal meeting in Oslo, Norway, in the morning. Joint statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are planned around 9 a.m. The foreign ministers of the alliance will then meet for talks in which NATO accession candidate Sweden is also to take part.

At the end, Stoltenberg gives a press conference at around 1 p.m. According to Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), one of the topics is strengthening the alliance’s “defense and deterrence capabilities”.

According to SPD foreign politician Nils Schmid, Russia is becoming increasingly isolated. “Russia is deliberately isolating itself more and more, which we are also experiencing with internet censorship,” Schmid told the Reuters news agency, referring to the new upper limit of 350 German representatives in Russia. The restrictions then ordered by the federal government are very painful, but appropriate.

The limit to 350 Russians and the closure of most consulates in Germany are reciprocal. “But it hits Russia particularly hard because the country has always sent a lot of personnel to Germany – many under the pretext of being able to engage in espionage.”

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) receives the Foreign Ministers of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Wismar. In addition to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the central topics of the two-day meeting will be the expansion of offshore wind power and the recovery of ammunition from the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

“Moldova is not alone” – this is the motto of a summit meeting that the heads of state and government of almost 50 European countries and the heads of the EU institutions are expected to attend today. A sign is to be sent from Ukraine’s neighboring country to Russian President Vladimir Putin: Hands off Moldova! The former Soviet republic has not only been exposed to attacks from Moscow since the Ukraine war.

The US suspends tariffs on Ukrainian steel for another year. This was announced by the Ministry of Commerce with reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A year ago, US President Joe Biden initially suspended the 25 percent punitive tariffs imposed by then US President Donald Trump in 2018 for one year because of the importance of the industry for the country’s economy and the contested Azovstal plant in Mariupol. Before the war, Ukraine was the 13th largest steel producer in the world and typically exports 80 percent of production.

According to the city administration, three people were killed and several injured in another night Russian attack on Kiev. According to the Kiev military administration, two children are among the dead. According to the information, the attack occurred in the eastern district of Desnjanskyj.