(NewsGlobal.com)- A propaganda reader from Russian state TV said deploying nuclear weapons would be the only option if NATO bases are placed in Finland and Sweden.
Both Finland and Sweden are expected to formally request entry into NATO, despite Moscow’s recent warnings that the two countries remain neutral. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Finland and Sweden would be warmly welcomed and their applications would be fast-tracked.
All 30 member states would have to approve the two countries’ entry into the alliance. Turkish President Erdogan has expressed some reluctance. But Luxembourg’s foreign minister believes, in the end, Turkey will agree.
Russia is threatening to retaliate if the two countries follow through, however. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Helsinki that it would be a “mistake” for Finland to join NATO as the country faces no security threat.
On Saturday Russia cut off electricity to Finland, purportedly due to problems with payments and not the current tensions over NATO.
In response to the ongoing debate, Dmitry Kiselyov, the on-air presenter on Russia 1, said the only reason Finland and Sweden want to join NATO is fear. Kiselyov said the two countries have more to fear from NATO, warning that if NATO military bases are placed in Finland or Sweden, Russia “will have no choice but to neutralize the imbalance and new threat by deploying tactical nuclear weapons.”
Russian propagandists enjoy rattling their nuclear sabers.
Back in April, Margarita Simonyan, a journalist and editor-in-chief with Russia Today said in a Telegram post that the UK’s support of Ukrainian strikes on Russia would leave the Kremlin no other option but to destroy Ukraine in a nuclear strike.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, downplayed the importance of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, saying the countries’ possible entry into the western alliance would probably not make much difference since they, along with other neutral countries, have been “participating in NATO military exercises for many years.”
Lavrov said NATO already takes Sweden and Finland into account when planning military advances into the East. “So in this sense, there is probably not much difference.”
