Russia threatened on Thursday that it would develop nuclear weapons in the Baltic if Finland and Sweden joined NATO, despite the fact that it has already been estimated to have such resources in the region. “If Sweden and Finland join NATO, the length of the land border of the alliance with the Russian Federation will more than double. Of course, these borders will have to be strengthened,” Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s vice-president of the Security Council, told the Telegram. . “There can be no talk of a nuclear-free Baltic regime anymore – the balance must be restored,” said Medvedev, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas responded by saying that the Russian threat was “quite strange” given that Russia currently has nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave in the Baltic Sea, according to Reuters. Kaliningrad is located between Lithuania and Poland, both members of NATO. “The current Russian threats seem very strange when we know that, even without the current security situation, they are holding the weapon 100 kilometers from the Lithuanian border.” “Nuclear weapons have always been kept in Kaliningrad … the international community, the countries of the region, know this very well … They use them as a threat,” he added. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) in 2018 published satellite images that it said showed “a major renovation of what appears to be an active nuclear weapons depot in the Kaliningrad region, about 50 kilometers from the Polish border.” Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted that Medvedev’s warning was a “rather empty threat” given the apparent presence of Russian nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad. Hans Christensen, director of the FAS nuclear program, also downplayed Medvedev’s nuclear threat and challenged the Russian politician’s proposal that a “balance” should be struck if Finland and Sweden joined NATO. “What balance? Even if Finland / Sweden joins, there will be no nuclear weapons in Eastern Europe,” Christensen wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “This is a good reminder that Russia is using nuclear weapons to offset what it considers to be inferior contractual capabilities. The fall of Ukraine and the expansion of NATO are likely to reinforce it.” Russia’s war in Ukraine has pushed Finland and Sweden closer than ever to NATO membership. The leaders of both countries on Wednesday signaled a decision on whether to seek membership in the alliance could be taken in the near future.
