NATO was very large and powerful as well, and American forces were huge and included large tactical nuke defenses, at the time it was a total war or not.
Under Putin the threat is one bite at a time and relentless, both those countries looked at the attempt to capture non NATO Kiev and the boldness of Putin’s disregard for anything resembling normality and they felt under threat being also outside of NATO, yet with Finland also on Russia’s border like Ukraine, and for Sweden, Gotland island hanging there ripe for the plucking, they knew what they were doing and didn’t feel the need to get your opinion on their national survival and joining our alliance.
“they knew what they were doing and didn’t feel the need to get your opinion on their national survival and joining our alliance.”
And they don’t need yours either. There you go, you lose.