published14. April 2022, 14:09
For a long time, the Baltic States with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad were considered nuclear-free. Dmitry Medvedev has now announced that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, he will strengthen Russia’s defenses in the region.
This would include the stationing of nuclear weapons.
via REUTERS
Finland and Sweden are currently considering joining the NATO alliance.
via REUTERS
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Both Finland and Sweden are considering joining NATO.
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Dmitry Medvedev has announced that accession would mean increasing defenses in the Baltics – and that would include nuclear weapons.
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Meanwhile, Lithuania countered that Moscow stationed nuclear weapons in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad long before the Ukraine war.
One of the closest allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitri MedwedewNATO warned on Thursday that if Sweden and Finland join the US-led military alliance, Russia will have to step up its defenses in the region, including with nuclear weapons, the news agency said Archyde.com reported.
Finland and Sweden are currently considering joining the NATO alliance. Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russia, will make a decision in the next few weeks, it said Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Wednesday.
«There can no longer be any talk of a nuclear-free Baltic Sea»
According to Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, if Sweden and Finland join NATO, Russia will be his Land, sea and air forces need to be strengthened in the Baltic Sea. Medvedev also specifically addressed nuclear weapons, saying there might no longer be talk of a “nuclear-free” Baltic Sea – where Russia owns the Kaliningrad exclave between Poland and Lithuania.
“There can no longer be any talk of a nuclear-weapon-free status for the Baltic Sea – the balance must be restored,” said Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012. “To date, Russia has not taken any such action and has no intention of doing so,” Medvedev said. “If we’re being forced, then… note that it wasn’t us who suggested it,” he added.
Joining NATO might be the greatest strategic consequence of the war
Lithuania said Russia’s threats were nothing new. In addition, Moscow stationed nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad long before the Ukraine war. A possible accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO would be one of the greatest strategic consequences of the war in Ukraine for Europe. NATO was founded in 1949 to ensure the West’s collective security once morest the Soviet Union.
Finland gained its independence from Russia in 1917 and fought once morest the Soviet Union during World War II in two wars in which it lost some territories to Moscow. On Thursday, Finland announced a military exercise in western Finland that will be attended by armed forces from Britain, the United States, Latvia and Estonia.
Sweden has not fought a war for 200 years, and post-war foreign policy focuses on international support for democracy, multilateral dialogue and nuclear disarmament.
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