State flags in front of NATO headquarters in BrusselsWASHINGTON, Apr 3 NATO will pleased to have Finland and Sweden in our ranks and will ensure that they can quickly join if the now neutral countries want it, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. «Of course it's up to them, but if they apply, I expect all 30 allies will be very happy. And we will find a way to relatively quickly accept them into the alliance if they so desire,» he said in an interview with CNN. Finland and Sweden started talking about the possibility of abandoning their long-term neutrality and joining NATO against the backdrop of the Russian special operation in Ukraine .Russia started it on February 24th. President Vladimir Putin called the goal of the operation «the protection of people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.» According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, and as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
