Posted on 04/11/2022 9:33:41 AM PDT by blam
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday issued a new warning against Finland and Sweden seeking NATO membership, after the Sunday Times reported that “Finland’s application is expected in June, with Sweden expected to follow.”
Peskov said that “the alliance remains a tool geared towards confrontation” – but Washington is said to be supporting the move, with Western officials cited as saying that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is proving to be a “massive strategic blunder”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. Image: Finnish govt
It was first revealed last week that Finland in particular has changed its thinking regarding its historic neutrality on the NATO question; however, there would be a period of domestic political debate before any application is made, and also with Sweden expected to determine its course independently.
After those reports first emerged days ago, a Russia lawmaker from parliament’s upper house, Vladimir Dzhabarov of the Federation Council, issued the most dire warning from among Moscow officials, threatening that such a “strategic mistake” as Helsinki petitioning NATO means Finland “would become a target.”
“I think it [would be] a terrible tragedy for the entire Finnish people,” said Dzhabarov. He also strongly suggested it would result in “the destruction of their country.”
He expressed hope that it’s unlikely that “the Finns themselves will sign a card for the destruction of their country” – as originally cited in RIA Novosti. The Finnish foreign ministry subsequently said it “does not comment on the statements of individual MPs” when asked to respond.
According to a recent Axios report, “60% of Finns now support joining NATO, according to a survey conducted last month — a 34-point jump from last fall, and the highest level since polling on the issue began in 1998.”
Map: The Daily Mail
Early this month Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin signal a complete reversal of policy direction, saying that a “new security environment” in Europe brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means the country has to rethink its long-standing policy of neutrality toward the NATO bloc. “Russia is not the neighbor we thought it was,” she said of Moscow’s ongoing assault on Ukraine, calling it a “flagrant violation”.
“In this new situation and changed security environment, we’ll have to evaluate all means to guarantee the safety of Finland and Finns,” Marin said. “We’ll have to seriously mull over our own stance and approach to military alignment. We’ll have to do this carefully but quickly, effectively during the course of this spring.”
How about Finland doesn't trust this barbarian Putin on its borders.
[Nice to see the Globalists’ cheerleaders on this thread.]
Russia tried that in WW2 and got their collective b’s handed to them.
I’ve been called a “NWO cheerleader” just because I posted that Putin is a barbaric maniac.
FWIW, I loath Zelenskyy and his WEF backers more than Vlad.
We’re all being set up for probably the most horrific summer/fall since the 1940s.
“I guess Russia didn’t lose enough soliders the first time around.”
There are a lot of Simo Hayha’s in Finland. Just sayin’.
I bet the Baltics are breathing a sigh of relief, particularly Estonia. The Fins and Estonia are building an LNG terminal and are turning away from Russian energy. It seems Putin has rescued NATO, and shown them that globalism isn’t quite where many nations dreamed it was.
Smart move. They’re learning the lesson that Ukraine didn’t learn, which was to move fast when you’re a neighbor of PutiPuke and need protection.
The weird thing is... your defense of Putin was better than the average Putinistas’ defense.
Oh, Joy! Another 800 mile, soon to be heavily armed, frontier with a nuclear armed adversary YOU will borrow to defend. Cha ching $$, go the DC oligarchs!
Back when MAGA was cool:
“NATO was set up at a different time. NATO was set up when we were a richer country. We’re not a rich country anymore. We’re borrowing, we’re borrowing all of this money...NATO is costing us a fortune and yes, we’re protecting Europe with NATO but we’re spending a lot of money. Number one, I think the distribution of costs has to be changed. I think NATO as a concept is good, but it is not as good as it was when it first evolved.”
CNN’s Blitzer: Do you think the United States needs to rethink U.S. involvement in NATO?
Trump: Yes, because it’s costing us too much money. And frankly they have to put up more money. They’re going to have to put some up also. We’re playing disproportionately. It’s too much. And frankly it’s a different world than it was when we originally conceived of the idea. And everybody got together.
My statement on NATO being obsolete and disproportionately too expensive (and unfair) for the U.S. are now, finally, receiving plaudits!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
“If we cannot be properly reimbursed for the tremendous cost of our military protecting other countries, and in many cases the countries I’m talking about are extremely rich...we have many NATO members that aren’t paying their bills.”
No one is afraid of their “threats” any more.
***Uhh, the opposite is true. Russia’s “threats” are REAL and that @$$#0/e REALLy does implement them, so it’s time for Russia’s neighbors to get the protection they have needed all this time but were in denial about it.
She was raised by same sex parents. Uughh…
You honestly think Russia has to worry about Finland invading THEM? Or Ukraine invading them?
Is Russia going to give away the other half of their tanks to Finland?
Finland has over 100,000 anti-tank missiles and 1500 land to air missiles.
And they have 64 F-35’s on order from the USA.
There is only one reason Russia would want to keep Finland out of NATO. So Russia can invade them.
Just like they opposed Ukraine joining NATO because they had plans to invade and take the rest of Ukraine that they weren’t able to get in 2014.
Look around you, EEE. You and I have been on the same side most of the time. This time around you are surrounded by trolls, carrying troll signs, singing troll songs, yelling troll slogans and acting like trolls. When you become indistinguishable among them, you become one of them, you become a troll.
I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once. :-)
It means no one is gonna invade THEM. But watch out if you’re close enough to get invaded and you aint in NATO.
Agreed, but that is something you would use as a last resort, not something you would use to invade other countries.
Also, given how shoddy the upkeep is in the Russian military, and the both the precision and huge cost required to properly maintain nuclear warheads, I am skeptical that even 20% of their warheads are in working condition.
Ukraine aint in NATO but Trump agrees with supporting them with more than what Biden has been doing.
And they have 64 F-35’s on order from the USA.
***That’s more than enough to establish air superiority based on what we’re seeing in Ukraine. Russia is running a straightline campaign, which is that they would fly their missions straight from their bases in Russia so you only need maybe 5 or 6 F35’s to guard that whole border.
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