Speedy approval seems likely among most members of the alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey’s objections remain a sticking point.
Many soldiers who surrendered from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant belong to the Azov battalion, a group with far-right roots, and the Kremlin may now put them on trial just as Ukraine is prosecuting Russians for war crimes.
Turkey has had a ship waiting for weeks in Istanbul to evacuate those remaining in the Azovstal steel plant, but Ukraine and Russia have not agreed to a plan, a Turkish official said.