The move to start a NATO accession process for Finland and Sweden is a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

One of his supposed goals in invading Ukraine was to push the Western world back from its borders. Instead, Finland’s membership will add a 1340-kilometer NATO front line directly outside Russia’s threshold.

Russia-friendly countries in the region have also welcomed the addition of Sweden and Finland, as it will turn the Baltic Sea into “a NATO lake”.

The NATO alliance, which Putin mocks, will grow from 30 members to 32. And the rotation of neutral states in Europe is shrinking to just Austria, Switzerland, Malta, Cyprus and Ireland – many of which are cooperating with sanctions against Russia.

On paper, Sweden and Finland overcame Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s veto by promising to withhold support for radical Kurdish groups in Turkey and Syria. The two countries have a history of supporting the Kurdish cause, which is a curse for Erdogan.

But many observers suspect that Erdogan’s apparent objections were merely a fig leaf covering his interest in buying US military hardware such as F-16 fighter jets, which Washington has been reluctant to sell to Turkey.

He walks away from the table with a Nordic arms embargo lifted, his Kurdish opponents potentially more isolated, the prospects for extradition from Sweden increased and the potential for US arms sales one step closer.

“Turkey got what it wanted,” a spokesman for Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto have had to swallow their pride and distance themselves from the Kurds, but the Russian threat obviously outweighed these costs.

“Our joint memorandum underlines the commitment of Finland, Sweden and Turkey to increase their full support for threats to each other’s security. The fact that we are becoming NATO allies will further strengthen this commitment,” Niinisto said.

The deal was mediated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian Prime Minister, whose eight-year term was due to end in October.

At a crisis meeting in March, his term was extended by 12 months to deal with the alliance through the shock of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

On Monday about the two countries’ potential accession to NATO, Stoltenberg said: “It will strengthen the security of Finland and Sweden. It will strengthen NATO. And it will be something that will contribute to stability across the Euro-Atlantic area, Europe. and North America. “