“A diplomatic dispute that had blocked Finland and Sweden from joining NATO was resolved on Tuesday, when the alliance’s secretary general announced that Turkey had agreed to lift its veto on the membership applications of the two Nordic countries following three hours of talks,” the New York Times reports.

“If Finland and Sweden join NATO, it would mark one of the most significant expansions of the alliance in decades at a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has radically altered Europe’s security calculus. It also underscores how the war in Ukraine has undermined President Vladimir V. Putin’s aim of weakening NATO by pushing Sweden and Finland, which were neutral and nonaligned for decades, into the alliance’s arms.”

“While in Europe for a NATO summit with world leaders, President Joe Biden plans to announce extension of some of the increased U.S. troop presence in Poland and changes to U.S. deployments in several Baltic nations that he authorized ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” NBC News reports.

“The Group of Seven economic powers are set to commit themselves to supporting Ukraine for the long haul, with the U.S. preparing to announce the purchase of an advanced surface-to-air missile system for Kyiv,” the AP reports.

“Leaders are also set to announce an agreement to pursue a price cap on Russian oil, raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose new sanctions on hundreds of officials and entities supporting the four month long war.”

“Russia defaulted on its foreign-currency sovereign debt for the first time in a century, the culmination of ever-tougher Western sanctions that shut down payment routes to overseas creditors,” Bloomberg reports.

“For months, the country found paths around the penalties imposed after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. But at the end of the day on Sunday, the grace period on about $100 million of snared interest payments due May 27 expired, a deadline considered an event of default if missed.”

Axios: “This is the foreseeable outcome of sanctions imposed due to the invasion of Ukraine, even though Russia had successfully pushed off the inevitable for months. For now, the default is mostly notable for its symbolism as Russia’s first foreign debt default since 1918, reflecting the country’s international pariah status and crumbling economy.”

Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, early on Sunday, striking at least two residential buildings, the AP reports.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to succeed in his invasion of Ukraine would have “absolutely catastrophic” consequences for the world, CNN reports.

Said Johnson: “I would just say to people in the United States that this is something that America historically does and has to do, and that is to step up for peace and freedom and democracy.”

He added: “And if we let Putin get away with it, and just annex, conquer sizable parts of a free, independent, sovereign country, which is what he is poised to do … then the consequences for the world are absolutely catastrophic.”

“President Biden and his counterparts in the Group of Seven nations are announcing a ban on new imports of Russian gold in an attempt to further isolate the country from financial markets and punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine,” the Washington Post reports.

“The ban on gold imports, which could amount to a penalty of tens of billions of dollars, appeared to be the primary new economic sanction to be imposed on Russia out of the summit.”

CNN: What to watch from Biden’s trip to the G-7.

The Prince of Wales accepted a suitcase containing €1 million in cash from a controversial Qatari politician, the Sunday Times reports.

“Pakistan has arrested the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks after years of denying his presence and even claiming he was dead,” Nikkei Asia reports.

“Iran has dismissed the longstanding intelligence chief of the Revolutionary Guards force, considered one of the country’s most powerful figures, as concerns mount over Israel’s covert war on Iran’s defense systems and its nuclear program,” the New York Times reports.

“The removal of the intelligence chief, Hossein Taeb, after 13 years in the post, was confirmed in a statement by the Guards that did not explain why he had been dismissed. But analysts agreed that his failure to stop Israel from breaching Iran’s security network was at the heart of it.”

The Economist “has built a statistical model to examine the relationship between food and fuel-price inflation and political unrest. It reveals that both have historically been good predictors of mass protests, riots and political violence. If our model’s findings continue to hold true, many countries can expect to see a doubling of unrest this year.”

“The greatest risk is in places that were already precarious: countries such as Jordan and Egypt that depend on food and fuel imports and have rickety public finances. Many such places are badly or oppressively governed. In Turkey the supply shock has accelerated ruinous inflation caused by dotty monetary policy. Around the world, the cost-of-living squeeze is adding to people’s grievances and raising the chance that they will take to the streets. This is more likely to turn violent in places with lots of underemployed, single young men. As their purchasing power falls, many will conclude that they will never be able to afford to marry and have a family. Frustrated and humiliated, some will feel they have nothing to lose if they join a riot.”

“Officials and experts in Washington and Seoul agree that North Korea is set to conduct its seventh nuclear test and its first since 2017 — likely quite soon,” Axios reports.

“Russian forces are gaining an advantage in eastern Ukraine as they learn from mistakes made during the earlier stages of their invasion of the country, including better coordinating air and ground attacks and improving logistics and supply lines,” CNN reports.

New York Times: “NATO was so confident that the invitation to both countries would go smoothly that it choreographed a series of events around a vote accepting the applications in May, which the alliance had to cancel when Turkey suddenly objected.”

“Mr. Erdogan has made numerous demands, mostly centering on nationalist issues with domestic impact, like Kurdish separatism and terrorism, and the extradition of some followers of an exiled opposition leader, Fethullah Gulen. Mr. Erdogan blames Mr. Gulen, who lives in the United States, for a failed coup attempt against him in 2016.”

“Approaching a pivotal moment in their invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces have tightened their vise around two key eastern cities, raising the risk their slow, brutal advance will capture the cities and trap the Ukrainian troops defending them,” the New York Times reports.

“The fall of the two neighboring cities, Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, would all but complete Russia’s conquest of Luhansk Province, a major part of the Donbas region that the Russians are attempting to seize in the four-month-old war. That would give a strategic and symbolic victory to President Vladimir Putin, and open avenues for Russia’s military to advance deeper into Ukraine.”