Finland Shrugs Off Russian Threat To Deploy Nukes In Kaliningrad

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies warned NATO on Thursday that once Sweden and Finland join the US-led military alliance, then Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in an exclave in the heart of Europe, Guy Faulconbridge reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Finland, which shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia, and Sweden are considering joining the NATO alliance with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin stating a decision will be made within the next few weeks.

Finland, which shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border with Russia, and Sweden are considering joining the NATO alliance. Finland will decide in the next few weeks, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said that should Sweden and Finland join NATO then Russia would have to strengthen its land, naval, and air forces in the Baltic Sea.

Medvedev also explicitly raised the nuclear threat by saying that there could be no more talk of a "nuclear free" Baltic - where Russia has its Kaliningrad exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.

"There can be no more talk of any nuclear–free status for the Baltic - the balance must be restored," said Medvedev, who was Russian president from 2008 to 2012. He said he hoped Finland and Sweden would see sense. If not, he said, they would have to live with nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles close to home.

Lithuania said Russia's threats were nothing new and that Moscow had deployed nuclear weapons to Kaliningrad long before the war in Ukraine. Still, the possible accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO - founded in 1949 to provide Western security against the Soviet Union - would be one of the biggest strategic consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917 and fought two wars against it during World War II during which it lost some territory. On Thursday, Finland announced a military exercise in Western Finland with the participation of Britain, the United States, Latvia, and Estonia. Sweden has not fought a war for 200 years. Foreign policy has focused on supporting democracy and nuclear disarmament.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said Russia had deployed nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad even before the war. "Nuclear weapons have always been kept in Kaliningrad ... the international community, the countries in the region, are perfectly aware of this," Anusauskas was quoted as saying by BNS.

"They use it as a threat." Ukraine says it is fighting an imperial-style land grab and that Putin's claims of genocide are nonsense. US President Joe Biden says Putin is a war criminal, a dictator, and a perpetrator of genocide.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic