Both Sweden and Finland are poised to join NATO as early as this summer as a result of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, unnamed US officials announced Monday, pointing out that Moscow has made a massive strategic blunder attacking its neighbor.
A senior US State Department official said last week that the possible membership of the two Nordic nations was discussed among the foreign ministers from the military alliance in Brussels during last week’s summit multiple sessions that were also attended by Finland’s FM Pekka Haavisto and his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde.
The sources said that it is expected for Finland to submit its membership application in June while Sweden should follow suit shortly after that.
According to a European diplomat who commented on the development, both Helsinki and Stockholm would be important net contributors, especially in terms of intelligence-gathering and air-force capabilities.
The announcement may additionally irritate Moscow which strongly opposes NATO’s expansion because although Sweden doesn’t border Russia, the Finnish land border shared with Russia spans some 1,340km and all three countries have access to the Baltic Sea.
Commenting on the possibility of Sweden and Finland joining the NATO military alliance, the Kremlin said on Monday that it is not a development that would not bring stability to Europe.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia’s stand that the alliance’s further eastward expansion will not bring stability to the European continent and that NATO remains a tool geared towards confrontation.
Meanwhile, after repeatedly urging NATO to take stronger actions throughout Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Kyiv’s no longer interested in their diplomacy that leads to the destruction of his country.
Although he was previously pushing for Ukraine’s membership in the alliance, Zelensky has referred to NATO as weak and underconfident since the Russian military invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, stressing the way he is now talking to NATO is absolutely justified.
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