Russia has threatened to deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles if Sweden and Finland joined NATO.
“There can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic – the balance must be restored,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and former president of Russia, said, per Reuters. “Until today, Russia has not taken such measures and was not going to. If our hand is forced, well … take note it was not us who proposed this.”
On Wednesday, Finland and Sweden’s prime ministers held a joint news conference in Stockholm.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the country would make a decision on the NATO membership, with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson coming to the same decision.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of genocide.
“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide half a world away,” Biden said. “It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being Ukrainian,” Biden later added. “The evidence is mounting.”
More surprisingly, former U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with Biden’s stance.
Trump and Putin have enjoyed a close relationship over recent years.
“This is a genocide that’s taking place [in Ukraine],” Trump said on Fox News.
Trump also claimed theU.S. has a more more robust nuclear arsenal than Russia. “I think in 100 years people are going to look back and they are going to say, ‘How did we stand back and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) stand back?”
