(International Observation) Finland and Sweden are speeding up the pace of "joining the treaty", and the Russian side has issued a "warning" intensively

  China News Agency, Moscow, May 14th: Finland and Sweden speed up the pace of "joining the treaty", and the Russian side has intensively issued "warnings"

  China News Agency reporter Tian Bing

  Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Finnish President Niinisto on the 14th.

The move marks another dimension in Finland's application to join NATO.

  Recently, with the increasingly loud voices of Finland and Sweden joining NATO and NATO claiming a "warm welcome", Russia's strategic space will be squeezed again, and concerns about European and even global security and stability have once again affected the nerves of the international community.

  Russian and Finnish heads of state "communicate"

  According to a statement issued on the Kremlin's website on the 14th, Putin emphasized during the call that it would be a mistake for Finland to abandon its traditional policy of military neutrality, because Finland's security is not threatened in any way.

Such a change in Finland's foreign policy could have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations.

  The Finnish Presidential Office issued a statement on the same day, saying that Niinisto said in the call that Russia's action against Ukraine has completely changed Finland's security environment, and Finland will announce its decision to apply for NATO membership in the next few days.

  Niinisto told the media the day before that he intends to maintain dialogue with Russia and plans to call Putin to communicate his support for Finland's entry into NATO.

Niinisto has reservations about "business as usual" in Russian-Finnish relations.

"We're not going back to what we're used to," he said.

The last time the Russian and Finnish heads of state spoke was two months ago, when the two sides agreed to keep in touch on the Ukraine issue and the Russian-Finnish agenda.

 Finland and Sweden accelerate the pace of "joining the treaty"

  Finland and Sweden have long pursued a military non-alignment policy.

After Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine, Finland and Sweden have undergone major changes in their security, defense and foreign policies, and they began to consider giving up their neutrality to join NATO.

The United States and NATO have repeatedly expressed their "welcome with open arms" and even simplified the normal process of accepting new members.

  On May 12, Finnish President Niinisto and Prime Minister Marin issued a joint statement saying that they support the country's application to join NATO and submit the relevant decision to parliament for approval as soon as possible.

Finnish Foreign Minister Haavisto said on the same day that if the parliament makes a decision, Finland will submit the application in the middle of next week.

According to him, Sweden is also looking into submitting applications at the same time.

Finnish Speaker Wehvelainen previously said that the parliament will discuss related issues on the 16th.

Sweden's ruling Social Democratic Party also announced a few days ago that it will make a decision on whether the country applies to join NATO on the 15th.

  Swedish Foreign Minister Linde said in an interview on the 14th that she will meet with Havestow and Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu during the informal NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Berlin, Germany, to persuade Turkey to no longer oppose the two countries' accession. NATO.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on the 13th that the Turkish side is closely following the developments concerning Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, but "does not have a positive opinion on this."

  Russia's intensive "warning"

  On the 14th, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the 30th annual meeting of the Foreign and Defense Policy Committee that on security issues, the European Union is moving closer to NATO and is attached to NATO, while the latter's global ambitions are increasingly manifested.

NATO claims responsibility for global security, especially in the Indo-Pacific, which means its defenses will extend to the rest of the world.

  On the 14th, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Glushko told the media that Moscow will respond after "a thorough and careful analysis of all factors affecting the security situation in the region" to the possible consequences of further expansion of NATO, rather than acting on a whim.

He believes that the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO is not in line with their national interests, the interests of maintaining European security and stability, nor the interests of stability in the region, and will only lead to the militarization of the northern region.

  Glushko pointed out that it is "too early" to talk about Russia's deployment of nuclear weapons in the Baltic region.

But at the same time, he said, there could be problems related to the de facto abandonment of nuclear-free status by Finland and Sweden.

While Finland and Sweden have historically advocated the prohibition and destruction of nuclear weapons, NATO is a "nuclear alliance."

Glushko stressed that if NATO pushes its nuclear forces and infrastructure to the Russian border, Russia will take adequate countermeasures.

  On the 13th, Putin held a meeting with members of the Russian Federation Security Council to discuss Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden's application to join NATO and their potential threats to Russia's security.

  On the 12th, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov said that the new round of NATO expansion is not conducive to the stability and security of the Eurasian continent.

What substantive measures the Russian side will take will depend on the extent to which NATO's military infrastructure is pushed to the Russian border.

  Mezhevich, chief researcher at the European Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that Finns have been discussing the issue of joining NATO since the post-Soviet era.

"Finns are under informational and psychological pressure from Western propaganda", so some residents are likely to change their minds about what's going on, previously neutrals were more inclined to "join the contract", while those who opposed switch to neutral.

"This means that the move is not in the direction of really preserving Finland's sovereignty, but in the direction of making it the fist of NATO's northwest."

  Korochenko, editor-in-chief of Russia's "Defense" magazine, said that if Finland and Sweden join NATO, the long Russian-Finnish border will actually become the border between Russia and NATO.

In this case, the Baltic Fleet would actually be trapped in the Baltic Sea, and the "enclave" Kaliningrad would be cut off and surrounded.

In addition, a network of airports and military bases in Finland and Sweden will serve as NATO springboards ready to receive NATO reinforcements.

He believes that Russia can only rely on tactical nuclear weapons to eliminate the damage to the military balance and the apparent imbalance in force and armament.

(Finish)