Russia warns of nuclear deployment if Sweden and Finland join NATO

One ofRussian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies warnedNATOon Thursday that ifSwedenandFinlandjoined the U.S.-led military alliance thenRussiawould have to bolster its defences in the region, including by deployingnuclearweapons.

Finland, which shares a 1,300-km (810-mile) border withRussia,andSwedenare consideringjoining theNATOalliance. Finlandwill make a decision in the next few weeks, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Wednesday.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman ofRussia's Security Council, said that shouldSwedenandFinlandjoinNATOthenRussiawould have to strengthen its land, navalandair forces in the Baltic Sea.

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Medvedev also explicitly raised thenuclearthreat by saying that there could be no more talk of a "nuclearfree" Baltic - where Russia has its Kaliningrad exclave sandwiched between PolandandLithuania.

"There can be no more talk of anynuclear–free status for the Baltic - the balance must be restored," said Medvedev, who was president from 2008 to 2012.

"Until today,Russiahas not taken such measuresandwas not going to," Medvedev said. "If our handis forced well... take note it wasn't us who proposed this," he added.

Lithuania saidRussia's threats were nothing newandthat Moscow had deployednuclearweapons to Kaliningrad long before the war in Ukraine.

The possible accession of FinlandandSwedenintoNATO- founded in 1949 to provide collective Western security against the Soviet Union - would be one of the biggest European strategic consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Finlandgained independence fromRussiain 1917andfought two wars against it during World War Two during which it lost some territory to Moscow. On Thursday, Finlandannounced a military exercise in Western Finlandwith the participation of forces from Britain, the United States, LatviaandEstonia.

Swedenhas not fought a war for 200 yearsandpost-war foreign policy has focused on supporting democracy internationally, multilateral dialogueandnucleardisarmament.

Watch |Gravitas: Finland prepares for a potential war with Russia

Kaliningrad

Kaliningrad is of particular importance in the northern European theatre. Formerly the Prussian port of Koenigsberg, capital of East Prussia, it lies less than 1400 km from LondonandParisand500 km from Berlin.

Russiasaid in 2018 it had deployed Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad, which was captured by the Red Army in April 1945andceded to the Soviet Union at the Potsdam conference.

The Iskander, known as SS-26 Stone byNATO, is a short-range tactical ballistic missile system that can carry both conventionalandnuclearwarheads.

Its official range is 500 km but some Western military sources suspect its range may be much greater.

"No sane person wants higher pricesandhigher taxes, increased tensions along borders, Iskanders, hypersonicsandships withnuclearweapons literally at arm's length from their own home," Medvedev said.

"Let's hope that the common sense of our northern neighbors will win," said Medvedev.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas saidRussiahad deployednuclearweapons to Kaliningrad even before the war.

"Nuclearweapons have always been kept in Kaliningrad ... the international community, the countries in the region, are perfectly aware of this," Anusauskas was quoted as saying by BNS. "They use it as a threat."

Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced millionsandraised fears of a wider confrontation betweenRussiaandthe United States - by far the world's two biggestnuclearpowers.

Putin says the "special military operation" in Ukraine is necessary because the United States was using Ukraine to threatenRussiaandMoscow had to defend against the persecution ofRussian-speaking people by Ukraine.

Ukraine says it is fighting against an imperial-style landgrabandthat Putin's claims of genocide are nonsense. USPresident Joe Biden says Putin is a war criminalanda dictator.

Putin says the conflict in Ukraine as part of a much broader confrontation with the United States which he says is trying to enforce its hegemony even as its dominance over the international order declines.