International [NATO News] Putin: lifting Ukraine missile restrictions would "put NATO at war with Russia"

NATO chief hails ‘historic moment’ as Finland, Sweden apply
By LORNE COOK | MAY 18, 2022


Finland's Ambassador to NATO Klaus Korhonen, left, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Sweden's Ambassador to NATO Axel Wernhoff attend a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday May 18, 2022.


BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.

The official applications, handed over by Finland and Sweden’s ambassadors to NATO, set a security clock ticking. Russia, whose war on Ukraine spurred them to join the military organization, has warned that it wouldn’t welcome such a move, and could respond.

“I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners,“ Stoltenberg said. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together, and we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.”

“This is a good day at a critical moment for our security,” a beaming Stoltenberg said, as he stood alongside the two envoys, with NATO, Finnish and Swedish flags at their backs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the alliance stop expanding toward Russia’s borders, and several NATO allies, led by the United States and Britain, have signaled that they stand ready to provide security support to Finland and Sweden should he try to provoke or destabilize them during the time it takes to become full members.

The countries will only benefit from NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee — the part of the alliance’s founding treaty that pledges that any attack on one member would be considered an attack of them all — once the membership ratification process is concluded, probably in a few months.

For now though, the application must now be weighed by the 30 member countries. That process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about Finland and Sweden joining.

If his objections are overcome, and accession talks go as well as expected, the two could become members within a few months. The process usually takes eight to 12 months, but NATO wants to move quickly given the threat from Russia hanging over the Nordic countries’ heads.

Canada, for example, says that it expects to ratify their accession protocol in just a few days — while in the Baltic region, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweeted: “I encourage a rapid accession process. We in Estonia will do our part fast.”

Stoltenberg said that NATO allies “are determined to work through all issues and reach rapid conclusions.”

The fact that the Nordic partners applied together means they won’t be losing time by having to ratify each other’s membership application.

“That Sweden and Finland go hand in hand is a strength. Now the process of joining the talks continues,” Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the Swedish news agency TT.

Public opinion in Finland and Sweden has shifted massively in favor of membership since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Finland and Sweden cooperate closely with NATO. They have functioning democracies, well-funded armed forces and contribute to the alliance’s military operations and air policing. Any obstacles they face will merely be of a technical, or possibly political nature.

NATO’s membership process is not formalized, and the steps can vary. But first their requests to join will be examined in a sitting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) of the 30 member countries, probably at ambassadorial level.

The NAC will decide whether to move toward membership and what steps must be taken to achieve it. This mostly depends on how well aligned the candidate countries are with NATO political, military and legal standards, and whether they contribute to security in the North Atlantic area. This should pose no substantial problem for Finland and Sweden.

Moving forward, during accession talks that could be concluded in just one day once the terms of those negotiations are set, the two will be asked to commit to uphold Article 5 and to meet spending obligations concerning the NATO in-house budget, which runs to around $2.5 billion dollars, split proportionally among what would be 32 member countries.

Finland and Sweden would also be made aware of their role in NATO defense planning, and of any other legal or security obligations they might have, like the vetting of personnel and handling of classified information.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...yyip-erdogan-bb85591c4cf0335cc053faccce26df32
 
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NATO chief hails ‘historic moment’ as Finland, Sweden apply
By LORNE COOK | MAY 18, 2022

1000.jpeg

Finland's Ambassador to NATO Klaus Korhonen, left, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Sweden's Ambassador to NATO Axel Wernhoff attend a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday May 18, 2022.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.

The official applications, handed over by Finland and Sweden’s ambassadors to NATO, set a security clock ticking. Russia, whose war on Ukraine spurred them to join the military organization, has warned that it wouldn’t welcome such a move, and could respond.

“I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners,“ Stoltenberg said. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together, and we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.”

“This is a good day at a critical moment for our security,” a beaming Stoltenberg said, as he stood alongside the two envoys, with NATO, Finnish and Swedish flags at their backs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the alliance stop expanding toward Russia’s borders, and several NATO allies, led by the United States and Britain, have signaled that they stand ready to provide security support to Finland and Sweden should he try to provoke or destabilize them during the time it takes to become full members.

The countries will only benefit from NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee — the part of the alliance’s founding treaty that pledges that any attack on one member would be considered an attack of them all — once the membership ratification process is concluded, probably in a few months.

For now though, the application must now be weighed by the 30 member countries. That process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about Finland and Sweden joining.

If his objections are overcome, and accession talks go as well as expected, the two could become members within a few months. The process usually takes eight to 12 months, but NATO wants to move quickly given the threat from Russia hanging over the Nordic countries’ heads.

Canada, for example, says that it expects to ratify their accession protocol in just a few days — while in the Baltic region, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweeted: “I encourage a rapid accession process. We in Estonia will do our part fast.”

Stoltenberg said that NATO allies “are determined to work through all issues and reach rapid conclusions.”

The fact that the Nordic partners applied together means they won’t be losing time by having to ratify each other’s membership application.

“That Sweden and Finland go hand in hand is a strength. Now the process of joining the talks continues,” Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the Swedish news agency TT.

Public opinion in Finland and Sweden has shifted massively in favor of membership since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Finland and Sweden cooperate closely with NATO. They have functioning democracies, well-funded armed forces and contribute to the alliance’s military operations and air policing. Any obstacles they face will merely be of a technical, or possibly political nature.

NATO’s membership process is not formalized, and the steps can vary. But first their requests to join will be examined in a sitting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) of the 30 member countries, probably at ambassadorial level.

The NAC will decide whether to move toward membership and what steps must be taken to achieve it. This mostly depends on how well aligned the candidate countries are with NATO political, military and legal standards, and whether they contribute to security in the North Atlantic area. This should pose no substantial problem for Finland and Sweden.

Moving forward, during accession talks that could be concluded in just one day once the terms of those negotiations are set, the two will be asked to commit to uphold Article 5 and to meet spending obligations concerning the NATO in-house budget, which runs to around $2.5 billion dollars, split proportionally among what would be 32 member countries.

Finland and Sweden would also be made aware of their role in NATO defense planning, and of any other legal or security obligations they might have, like the vetting of personnel and handling of classified information.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...yyip-erdogan-bb85591c4cf0335cc053faccce26df32
<GinJuice>
 
Lavrov said he does not give a shit either about Finland joining NATO.
<Durant35>
I think he has been actually a bit more consistent about that than Putin.
 
I can’t believe they are so blatantly threatening Russia like that.
 
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Finland was neutral in the sense that their foreign policy made in Moscow was balanced out by internal politics made in Scandinavia.

They never made a move contrary to what Moscow wanted. That isn’t neutrality, but calling it that may have made it easier for everyone to stomach, including Finnish voters. It is also a good compromise given the ideological aspect of the Cold War and the potential threat of having their way of life fundamentally altered by communists.

This was cos after WW2 they had to pay reparations.
When Stalin 1948-1949 attempted to break 1943-1945 treaties with West, blocked supplies to West Berlin, attempted to take control over West Berlin ...
After this not likely west had even cared what Stalin will tell.
They probably gladly had acceppted Finland in NATO, cos Stalin's signed treaties with west appeared less worth than piece of used toilet paper...also his words too...

However reparations stuff was financial stuff and about such papers west still was " classic ".
So only chance Finland had was to balance between west and USSR in order to enchance trade with both of them.
To earn money!

Later 1989-1992 Finland had paid huge real price for too close economic ties with Russia.
Economy had get hit like cos 2008-2009 th financial crisis in west...

They had learned hard lesson.
It appeared for long term wery good for them.

While Germany had to sit on Russia's natural gas needle more and more, Finland in 2007 th launched nuclear reactor project just cos investors assumed that natural gas will be with increasing prices during next 15 years as bare minimum.
Diversification of energy supplies and sources appeared enough good.
 
About spendings no one should care: Finland alrady approved budget with almost full 2% limit and F-35 sales deal...

Interestingly why Germany had to sit on Russia's natural gas needle like drug addict while....even Kremlin's best friend Lukashenko in the same time did all the best to reduce dependency from Russia's natural gas?
Yeah, despite discounts.
Lukashenko outsmarted Russia when get credit from Russia in order to get Rosatom built nuclear power plant.
Uranium price is lesser than 10% from total expenses for produced energy, while for natural gas it is >50%.....
Lukashenko also launched attempts to build small hydrolectric power plants and biogas plants DESPITE discounts from Kremlin.....
Dictator even had western companies assistance when built biogas plants and hydroelectric power plants.
 
Good thing the Finns don't want anything to do with dirt-poor Russian-speaking East Karelia, or else that might give Russia an excuse for "denazification".

I would say the Finns "not wanting" those territories doesn't quite capture the historical Finnish attitude towards Karelia considering 70,000 Finns died trying to take East Karelia, and another 30,000 died trying to defend West Karelia from the Soviets.

Its just the fact the Finns were beaten and as a result those border disputes between Finland/USSR were settled in favor of the USSR in 1945. The Finnish people did everything in their power not to let that happen when they had the chance including launching an invasion of East Karelia.

Which leads to Russia's softer views on Finland joining NATO as compared to Ukraine today.

Finland and Russia do not have any serious "territorial" disputes, Finland was compelled by force to relinquish any claims, and unlike Ukraine Finland is not seen as existential strategic threat in Russian military theory.

Finland's terrain and location preclude it from being a staging point for a large conventional invasion into Russia.

The potential threats Finland's inclusion into NATO presents (Threats to Russian Artic, and St. Petersburg) already exist through the Baltic states, and Norway so in the minds of Russian military leadership it is not the existential threat they see in Ukraine joining NATO.

Sure in a perfect world (for Russia) they would prefer if no country joined NATO (Hence the rhetoric), but in reality they have limitations, and some strategic priorities are deemed more important than others just like in any other country, and Russia would exchange every other country in Europe joining NATO in order for Belarus and Ukraine being brought into its sphere.

The problem arises when we misidentify what Russia deems as existential threats and what it deems as mere interests. Because if we can't accurately judge what Russia sees as its existential interests we will continue to misjudge where it is actually willing to commit, and how much it is willing to sacrifice in those situations.
 
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NATO chief hails ‘historic moment’ as Finland, Sweden apply
By LORNE COOK | MAY 18, 2022


Finland's Ambassador to NATO Klaus Korhonen, left, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Sweden's Ambassador to NATO Axel Wernhoff attend a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday May 18, 2022.


BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.

The official applications, handed over by Finland and Sweden’s ambassadors to NATO, set a security clock ticking. Russia, whose war on Ukraine spurred them to join the military organization, has warned that it wouldn’t welcome such a move, and could respond.

“I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners,“ Stoltenberg said. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together, and we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.”

“This is a good day at a critical moment for our security,” a beaming Stoltenberg said, as he stood alongside the two envoys, with NATO, Finnish and Swedish flags at their backs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded that the alliance stop expanding toward Russia’s borders, and several NATO allies, led by the United States and Britain, have signaled that they stand ready to provide security support to Finland and Sweden should he try to provoke or destabilize them during the time it takes to become full members.

The countries will only benefit from NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee — the part of the alliance’s founding treaty that pledges that any attack on one member would be considered an attack of them all — once the membership ratification process is concluded, probably in a few months.

For now though, the application must now be weighed by the 30 member countries. That process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about Finland and Sweden joining.

If his objections are overcome, and accession talks go as well as expected, the two could become members within a few months. The process usually takes eight to 12 months, but NATO wants to move quickly given the threat from Russia hanging over the Nordic countries’ heads.

Canada, for example, says that it expects to ratify their accession protocol in just a few days — while in the Baltic region, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas tweeted: “I encourage a rapid accession process. We in Estonia will do our part fast.”

Stoltenberg said that NATO allies “are determined to work through all issues and reach rapid conclusions.”

The fact that the Nordic partners applied together means they won’t be losing time by having to ratify each other’s membership application.

“That Sweden and Finland go hand in hand is a strength. Now the process of joining the talks continues,” Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the Swedish news agency TT.

Public opinion in Finland and Sweden has shifted massively in favor of membership since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Finland and Sweden cooperate closely with NATO. They have functioning democracies, well-funded armed forces and contribute to the alliance’s military operations and air policing. Any obstacles they face will merely be of a technical, or possibly political nature.

NATO’s membership process is not formalized, and the steps can vary. But first their requests to join will be examined in a sitting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) of the 30 member countries, probably at ambassadorial level.

The NAC will decide whether to move toward membership and what steps must be taken to achieve it. This mostly depends on how well aligned the candidate countries are with NATO political, military and legal standards, and whether they contribute to security in the North Atlantic area. This should pose no substantial problem for Finland and Sweden.

Moving forward, during accession talks that could be concluded in just one day once the terms of those negotiations are set, the two will be asked to commit to uphold Article 5 and to meet spending obligations concerning the NATO in-house budget, which runs to around $2.5 billion dollars, split proportionally among what would be 32 member countries.

Finland and Sweden would also be made aware of their role in NATO defense planning, and of any other legal or security obligations they might have, like the vetting of personnel and handling of classified information.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-u...yyip-erdogan-bb85591c4cf0335cc053faccce26df32


russiaelection020329-300x300.jpg
 
So yea we are officially blocked for time being
Doesn't matters anyway, please don't hope.
Turkey is absoultely useless and " useful " only on paper. Like Germany and Hungary.

More matters how interested in you are other countries.
I know that you in core are a bit pro russian while living in EU and for a resaon.

Normal and usable NATO countries if really shit might happen will be Norway, U.K, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, U.S and Canada, Aussies and NZ...
Then to lesser extent Poland, Baltic countries ( yeah ) and ... Netherlands, Iceland...

Greece does have more balls than Turkey btw.
 
I believe if Russia decided to take Turkey from the rear Greece would help....
From one point Greece hates turkey, from another...they value opportunities provided by west really highly...

A bit from sad reality: once when shit really might had happened for air patrols pilots had provided Portugal and United States and this then was very real risk.

Israel is good partner btw...

Quickly deploy pro troops: too was shit incoming...
U.S, Denmark, Norway, U.K. few hours in real time.
Baltic guys are really skilled and correct while lazy.
However they are very good to deal with IEDs and mines, westerners even from U.S are learning from them a lot.
 
Oh boy maria zaharova from foreign ministry saying they will answer finlands nato joining militarily (this from our news)
 
She needs to go into milf porn and not threaten foreign nations.

Russia won't do a damned thing. They can't handle Ukraine and wouldn't dare touch a NATO prospect.


@Cole train
 
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She needs to go into milf porn and not threaten foreign nations.

Russia won't do a damned thing. They can't handle Ukraine and wouldn't dare touch a NATO prospect.


@Cole train

If theres one thing that our lovable neighbour is good at its being unpredictable.they cant ko ukr right now because ukr is strong militarily (ours is a question mark) so we will see what future holds
 
Lavrov said he does not give a shit either about Finland joining NATO.
<Durant35>
I think he has been actually a bit more consistent about that than Putin.


he literally has Putin's hand up his ass 24/7 and just repeats.
 
If theres one thing that our lovable neighbour is good at its being unpredictable.they cant ko ukr right now because ukr is strong militarily (ours is a question mark) so we will see what future holds


So we should put Agies ashore and 2500 US troops there:D
 
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