While you were asleep: Finland will push to join Nato amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

As we head into the weekend, we begin this morning with a look at the war in Ukraine, where Russian military operations have not gone to plan since the very beginning of the invasion, as Russian President Vladimir Putin believed he would be able to sack the country and install a puppet regime in a matter of days.

Russian forces have been repelled from the capital city of Kyiv but have been pushing hard in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine as the Kremlin readjusts its goals and seeks to support Russian separatist forces and pro-Russia regions of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the war has united most of the world against Russia with wide-ranging sanctions and bans imposed on everything from Russian oil and money to sports stars’ participation in competitions.

It has spurred European nations to act and wean themselves off Russian oil and gas dependency while it has also brought the question of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and the European Union (EU) to the forefront of some country’s political ambitions.

One of the stated original reasons for Russia’s attack on Ukraine was its intention to apply to join Nato and now Finland says they plan to request Natio membership “without delay,” which has further enraged Russia.

Moscow believes an emboldened Nato provides military strength to the West and threatens Russia’s geopolitical position.

Moscow has threatened unspecified “military-technical” measures against the move by Finland. But given how poorly the war in Ukraine is going and how badly military operations have been executed in that country, other than the bombing of civilian infrastructure and the senseless killing of civilians, Finland is expected to push forward with a membership request.

This may well be Finland’s best opportunity to join Nato with Russia’s military priority focused on Ukraine making it unlikely it will be able to launch attacks on multiple fronts.

Scandinavian nation, Sweden, is expected to follow suit and apply for membership in Nato.

Perhaps an emboldened Nato will finally put a stop to Russian aggression in the region, but it could also force Putin into a corner making him opt for something entirely more devastating in consequence like reaching for the nuclear button.

In the currency markets, the rand weakened to R16.26/$ at one point yesterday after poor UK GDP data pushed the pound sharply weaker and the euro dropped as well but the rand rallied late on to recover to R16.10/$.

“This morning, global markets have calmed somewhat after Jerome Powell confirmed that the Fed is likely to hike rates by only 50bps at each of the next two FOMC meetings. The rand has firmed to R16.01 against the dollar while it is stronger against both the euro and pound at R16.65 and R19.57, respectively,” comments TreasuryONE.

On the commodity front, the forex trading house says, “Precious metals had a very poor day, with gold losing 1.6% to close at $1,822, platinum dropping 4.8% to close at $944, and palladium down 6.25% to end at $1,908.”

There has been a slight recovery this morning as markets settle. Gold is currently at $1,827, platinum up at $955, and palladium at $1,949. Oil is trading firmer after news that Beijing will not be going into lockdown. Brent is currently up 2.15% at $109.60 a barrel.