The key indices of the US stock market - Dow Jones, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 - ended Friday with a slight increase. However, this growth does not change anything about the overall picture of things. This is just a small pullback within the framework of a global correction, which we are now seeing everywhere both on the US stock market and on the cryptocurrency market. That is, in the most risky markets. Naturally, there was no macroeconomic news on Saturday and Sunday. Therefore, it is impossible to say that the fundamental background has improved or worsened over the weekend. But there was geopolitical news that could lead to a significant deterioration of the situation in the world. In principle, the news about the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO is not particularly news. We have been writing about this regularly in the last two weeks. However, yesterday, on May 15, the presidents of both countries officially announced that the parliaments had decided to submit applications for joining the military alliance. Now, as they say, the next move is for the Kremlin. Recall that Moscow has officially stated several times that it opposes Finland and Sweden joining the bloc. Finns have the longest border with Russia, more than 1000 km. And now NATO bases can be located near this border. That is only two hundred kilometers from St. Petersburg. Recall also that one of the official reasons for the "military operation" in Ukraine was the desire of the latter to join NATO.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made a resonant statement this weekend. He said that the military alliance is preparing to strengthen the two Baltic countries even before they join the bloc, with which there will be no problems and delays. Last week, Turkish President Erdogan said that his country was against the entry of Finns and Swedes into NATO, but Stoltenberg assured that Ankara would not put a stick in the wheels. The Secretary-General also noted that now the military alliance will play ahead of the curve. In the West, they believe that Moscow may launch another "special operation", so it will begin to strengthen Finland and Sweden in the near future. As a result, the Kremlin may soon receive an increase in the military forces of the bloc near its borders. And there are serious reasons to assume that the next "mess" may begin in the near future. If so, then the geopolitical conflict that exists now may spill out beyond the borders of Ukraine, as we have repeatedly warned.
As for Ukraine itself, neither the Armed Forces of Ukraine nor the Russian Army has any serious successes at this time. The Ukrainian forces managed to almost completely liberate the Kharkiv region, but at the same time, the Russian army is advancing in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Western weapons continue to flock to Ukraine, and in Kyiv, they say that as soon as there is enough of it, the AFU will go on a counteroffensive. The goal is to fully regain their lands, including Crimea and Donbas.
