Russia renewed yesterday the warning once morest Finland and Sweden joining NATO under the threat of deploying nuclear weapons in the Baltics, at a time when CIA Director William Burns considered that what he described as “Russia’s military setbacks in Ukraine” may push President Vladimir Putin to Using a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, he said, Russia’s threats cannot be underestimated.
Warning once more
On Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry renewed the warning that the accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would have consequences for these two countries and for European security. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that these two countries “must be aware of the consequences of such a step for our bilateral relations and for the European security architecture as a whole.”
“Accession to NATO cannot enhance its national security, and de facto (Finland and Sweden) will be the first line of NATO,” she added.
On Thursday, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that if Finland or Sweden joined NATO, Russia would strengthen its military means, especially nuclear ones, in the Baltic Sea and near the Scandinavian countries.
Do not underestimate the threat
“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, and the military setbacks they have faced thus far, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons,” Burns said in a speech in Atlanta.
Avoid the nuclear threshold
The Kremlin had announced that Russia’s nuclear forces were placed on high alert shortly following the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, but the United States did not see much “practical evidence” of actual deployments of these weapons that would cause more concern, according to what Burns added while speaking to students at Georgia Institute of Technology.
“We are certainly very concerned,” he said. I know President Joe Biden is deeply concerned regarding avoiding a third world war, and regarding avoiding the threshold at which nuclear conflict becomes possible.”
Russia has many tactical nuclear weapons, which are less powerful than the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. Russian military doctrine is characterized by a principle called escalation for de-escalation, which may include a first strike with a low-yield nuclear weapon to regain the initiative if things go wrong in a conventional conflict with the West.
Deployment of NATO ships in the Baltics
Ships of the NATO Maritime Rapid Response Group have entered the Baltic Sea and will participate in exercises with neighboring allied and partner countries.
According to the “news.err.ee” website, some ships of the NATO Naval Rapid Response Group entered the Baltic Sea on Thursday and completed their entry on Friday to the old cruise terminal in the port of Tallinn (Estonia). The primary task is to establish the presence of the Allies in the Baltic Sea. And conduct joint exercises with the Estonian Navy.
Rear Admiral Ad van de Sande, commander of NATO’s “SNMG1”, said, “The visit to the port confirms the strong relations that exist with our allies… This allows us to interact between the armed forces of NATO and maintain our effective readiness.”