One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies warned NATO on Thursday that if Sweden and Finland joined the US-led military alliance, then Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in an exclave in the heart of Europe.
Finland, which shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia, and Sweden are considering joining the NATO alliance. Finland will decide in the next few weeks, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said that should Sweden and Finland join NATO then Russia would have to strengthen its land, naval and air forces in the Baltic Sea, Reuters reported.
Medvedev also explicitly raised the nuclear threat by saying that there could be no more talk of a “nuclear free” Baltic—where Russia has its Kaliningrad exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania. “There can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic, the balance must be restored,” said Medvedev, who was Russian President from 2008 to 2012.
Medvedev said he hoped Finland and Sweden would see sense. If not, he said, they would have to live with nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles close to home. Russia has the world’s biggest arsenal of nuclear warheads and along with China and the United States, is one of the global leaders in hypersonic missile technology. Lithuania said Russia’s threats were nothing new and that Moscow had deployed nuclear weapons to Kaliningrad long before the war in Ukraine. NATO did not immediately respond to Russia’s warning.
Still, the possible accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO—founded in 1949 to provide Western security against the Soviet Union—would be one of the biggest strategic consequences of the war in Ukraine. Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917 and fought two wars against it during World War II during which it lost some territory. On Thursday, Finland announced a military exercise in Western Finland with the participation of Britain, the United States, Latvia and Estonia. Sweden has not fought a war for 200 years. Its foreign policy has focused on supporting democracy and nuclear disarmament.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said that his administration would provide Ukraine with an additional US$800 million worth of military aid including heavy artillery as Washington anticipated a “wider assault” by Russia in eastern Ukraine. “As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the Donbas region, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to defend itself,” Biden said in a statement after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine,” Biden said.
“These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds and armoured personnel carriers. I have also approved the transfer of additional helicopters,” he said, adding that the United States would continue to facilitate the transfer of significant capabilities from its allies and partners around the world. The United States has committed 1.7 billion dollars in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia began its “special military operation”. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Moscow has added 398 members of the United States Congress to its travel ban list. “In response to another ‘wave’ of anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the administration of (US President) Joe Biden on March 24 of this year against 328 lawmakers of the State Duma … which … constitutes almost its entire composition, ‘mirror’ sanctions are introduced against 398 members of the House of Representatives of the US Congress,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Russian media. The ministry added that Russia plans to expand its travel ban list in the near future.