marcusmaximus: "Russia said the same thing about Finland and Sweden."
Vlad the Invader, whatever delusional fantasies he has relating himself to Peter the Great and Old Uncle Joe Stalin, Vlad still has no authority -- zero, zip, nada authority -- to dictate which countries will or will not join NATO.
Indeed, Russia itself in the 1990s was informally invited to join NATO and signed several agreements of friendship and cooperation with NATO.
Even Vlad himself discussed it with NATO leaders and US Pres. Clinton in 2000.
However, within just a few years Vlad started down a very different path, which lead to his 2008 invasion of Georgia, 2014 "annexing" Crimea, plus invading the Donbas, and now since 2022 fully into Ukraine, with three more oblasts "annexed".
Map showing NATO members in blue with related allies in other colors. See link for color keys:
