NATO invites Finland and Sweden to join and sees a “direct threat” from Putin in the midst of Ukraine’s war
Asked in May whether Finland and Sweden would join NATO posed a threat to Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Definitely. NATO expansion does not make our continent more stable and secure.”
Experts are discussing the extent to which Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was actually about NATO. Many believe that it was in fact the EU’s expansion that the Russian president feared most: the prospect that increasingly poor Russian citizens would see another former Soviet neighbor thrive as part of the Western bloc.
Here, too, his war seems to have fought back. Last week, Ukraine was granted candidate status for the EU, initiating a process that could take years or even decades.
Putin also openly stated his revengeist, imperialist goals, declaring that Ukraine was not a real country and coming up with the ahistorical proposal that it should be reunited with Mother Russia.
Nevertheless, many experts say that NATO’s likely expansion is a major blow to the Russian president, not only symbolically but practically. This means that there will be no more areas in northern Europe where the alliance must ask for permission to pass, which makes planning exercises and deployments easier.
Finland and Sweden both have well-drilled, well-equipped armies and “will improve NATO’s capabilities in the Arctic region,” said Ben Hodges, former commander of US forces in Europe who is now an analyst at the Center for European Policy Analysis think. tank.
“This is the direct result of a colossal strategic mistake by Vladimir Putin, whose unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has reminded the whole of Europe that security and stability are not to be taken for granted.”
Patrick Smith contributed.