US: Finland, Sweden join NATO will put Russia in difficult military position

The accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO will put Russia in a difficult military position in the Baltic Sea, said today the head of the US General Staff National Defense General Mark Miley during a visit to Stockholm in view of military exercises.

The two Nordic countries, both of which have long borders in the Baltic Sea, applied to join the North Atlantic Alliance last month amid security concerns following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although their objections have been challenged. from Turkey.

Their accession would mean that the Baltic Sea coastline would be surrounded by NATO members, with small lanes around the Russian cities of Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg.

“So from a Russian perspective, that would be very problematic for them, militarily, and it would be very beneficial for NATO,” Miley said.

“The Baltic Sea is one of the world’s most strategically important sea lanes,” he said in a joint news conference with his Swedish counterpart, the Swedish prime minister and the Swedish defense minister. in the Baltic Sea involving Sweden and Finland.

With Sweden and Finland hoping to join NATO, the war in Ukraine sparked the very enlargement of the Alliance to Russia’s borders, which Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to prevent.

Putin said last month that there was no threat to Russia if Sweden and Finland joined NATO, although he warned that Moscow would retaliate if the US-led Alliance strengthened military infrastructure in its new Nordic members.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson described the US military visit as a tangible testament to the assurances given by US President Joe Biden to her and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto when they visited Washington in May.