Deputy Secretary General NATO Camille Grand said NATO refused to guarantee Russia would not deploy nuclear weapons in Sweden and Finland if the two countries joined the alliance.
“Every country is free to deploy or not to deploy nuclear weapons. We will not be talking about establishing some principled restriction on possible coalition actions. There are currently no questions raised on this issue either. But I don’t think that in the current situation it is necessary to provide Russia with any guarantees regarding our military situation in the region,” Grand told Swiss broadcaster RTS.
Finland and Sweden, long-time neutral countries, officially applied to join NATO in mid-May, amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Both Finland and Sweden, while remaining neutral, have maintained close ties and military cooperation with the US-led military alliance for decades.
“These are two very close partners with considerable military capabilities. They also bring knowledge of the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe,” said Grand.
However, the possibility of the two countries joining the bloc came to a standstill when Turkey, an important member of NATO, firmly objected. Turkey accuses the two Nordic countries of being a “guesthouse for terrorist organizations” for hosting members of Kurdish groups that Ankara considers terrorists.
Russia believes that Finland’s membership of NATO will pose a threat to Moscow’s national security and has warned of retaliation.
Moscow will also take appropriate countermeasures if NATO deploys nuclear weapons near Russia’s borders.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: Soha.vn – Read the original article here
