A soldier with a NATO flag. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 19The United States should abandon the idea of including Sweden and Finland in NATO in order to «not try your luck» with Russia, an American writer and politician, former presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan. In his opinion, Washington should leave itself the possibility of «freedom of action» in the event of a hypothetical international conflict.
"Today, we are not only leading an alliance of 30 countries, but also trying to include two more members in it. One of them has an 830-mile border with Russia. But how much longer are we going to try our luck?" Buchanan asked.
The American politician recalled the statement of Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, that when Sweden and Finland join NATO, it will no longer be possible to talk about any non-nuclear status of the Baltic.
"Finland was neutral during the Cold War. Sweden has been neutral since the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. Have we somehow suffered from their neutrality?" — stressed the author of the article.
Buchanan concluded that he saw no benefit for the United States in «forcing war with Russia», which has the world's largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, because of «a quarrel in the Baltic Sea or the Gulf of Finland.»< img src="/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/173b6956173b2d44a5cc75409834ab18.jpg" />Medvedev spoke about measures in the event of Finland and Sweden joining NATO Stoltenberg noted that the alliance would be glad to see countries in its ranks and provide them with the opportunity to quickly join. The North Atlantic Alliance expects these states to make their own decisions about possible entry into the alliance in the coming «months and weeks,» US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith said earlier. She added that Washington would welcome the accession of these countries to the alliance. The Russian Foreign Ministry has previously noted that the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO threatens with negative consequences for stability in northern Europe, and the countries themselves «should understand the consequences of such a step for bilateral relations and in general European security architecture that is now in crisis».
The Pentagon says it has no plans to deploy forces in Finland and Sweden