Russia threatens countermeasures if Finland and Sweden decide to join NATO. This is what the former head and current deputy of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said.
If Sweden and Finland join NATO, the borders of the alliance with Russia will double. Medvedev warned that it would then be necessary to strengthen these borders. According to the ex-president, this will include more ground forces, but also the strengthening of anti-aircraft defenses, and a greater presence of the Russian fleet in the Gulf of Finland.
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“In this case, we can no longer talk about the non-nuclear status of the Baltic states – the balance must be restored,” Medvedev said. For decades, there has been a hint of the Baltic Sea region or the Baltic Sea where all countries involved are allowed not to have nuclear weapons. This should reduce the risk of a nuclear escalation of the conflict between Russia and NATO.
Russia has a large seaport on the Baltic Sea at Kaliningrad, which is the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet. The country’s second city, Saint Petersburg, is located on the Baltic Sea. With NATO membership in Finland and Sweden, the entire Baltic Sea has become a kind of inland sea for NATO, with the exception of a part of the Gulf of Finland near St. Petersburg and about 120 kilometers from the coast at Kaliningrad.
Discussions are heating up in Sweden and Finland over possible NATO membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A decision in Finland seems imminent, according to Swedish media, Sweden would like to apply for membership at the NATO summit in Madrid in June.
