Russia threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in and around the Baltic Sea region if Finland and Sweden join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as tensions fueled by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine spread.
“In this case, there can be no talk of non-nuclear status for the Baltic,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council and former president, said in a Telegram post Thursday, suggesting Russia may deploy Iskander missiles, hypersonic weapons and nuclear-armed ships in the region.
Medvedev’s comments are among the most detailed threats Russia has issued over the prospect that its northwestern neighbors might join the alliance after decades of staying out. But both Finland and Sweden this week said they’re stepping up consideration of the issue in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda dismissed the threats as “empty,” accusing Russia of already placing tactical nuclear weapons in the Kalinigrad exclave on the Baltic. “I don’t know if one can deploy something anew that’s already been deployed,” Nauseda told a press conference in Vilnius.
Finland and Russia have lived next to each other for 1000 years. Finns are not going to build a Maginot Line. Their forests and lakes make it safe from massive invasion like in Ukraine. Many Finnic peoples (over 2 million) still live in Russia stretching from from Perm to St. Petersburg in Northern Russia.
Russians already have missiles and troops in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea. Kaliningrad is an ice free port.