The eye of Sauron, sorry, Vlad Putin, has turned to Sweden and Finland, and he has threatened them with military consequences if they join NATO. “Finland and Sweden should not base their security on damaging the security of other countries and their accession to NATO can have detrimental consequences and face some military and political consequences,” Russian foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Well, I guess if the result is getting blasted by the Russian forces, they better keep their heads down.
“Russia has threatened its close Arctic neighbours Sweden and Finland with 'military consequences' if they join NATO.
It came as Russia's invasion of Ukraine intensified today after a night of fighting in the capital of Kyiv especially.
Sweden and Finland are the two closest countries to Russia in the Arctic Circle.
'Finland and Sweden should not base their security on damaging the security of other countries and their accession to NATO can have detrimental consequences and face some military and political consequences,' foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a news briefing.
The foreign ministry later reiterated the threat on Twitter.
'We regard the Finnish government's commitment to a military non-alignment policy as an important factor in ensuring security and stability in northern Europe,' the department wrote. 'Finland's accession to NATO would have serious military and political repercussions.'
Vladimir Putin is widely believed to have attacked Ukraine after western nations mooted the idea of the country joining NATO, over fears it could end up with a US military presence on its doorstep.
A similar move by Sweden or Finland could potentially provoke similar ire.
U.S. intelligence officials are worried the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv could fall by Saturday afternoon CNN reported, with Russian troops entering the city in the early hours of Saturday morning local time.
Russia just threatened military consequences against Finland and Sweden.
They f***** insane. pic.twitter.com/w4BfHfYYEW
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) February 25, 2022
Ukrainian leaders want to join NATO but Russia has been strongly opposed to the move.
Both NATO and President Joe Biden have said the United States would strongly defend the 30-member alliance should the Kremlin launch an attack.
Biden met virtually with fellow NATO members on Friday morning to reassure eastern allies they will be protected as Russian troops prepared to enter Kyiv.
Amid reports the Kremlin is gunning for him, Zelensky had slammed the United States and its allies for leaving his country to fight alone.
'Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don't see anyone,' he said on Thursday night. 'Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid.'
'We're defending our country alone. The most powerful forces in the world are watching this from a distance,' Zelensky said.
After the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the 30-nation organization will send parts of the NATO Response Force and elements of a quickly deployable spearhead unit to the alliance´s eastern flank. It´s the first time the force has been used to defend NATO allies.
'We are now deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time in a collective defence context. We speak about thousands of troops. We speak about air and maritime capabilities,' Stoltenberg said.”
It is easy to see how all of this could lead to World War III, for wars haver started for less.
“As Russia’s assault of Ukraine continues, with Russian forces launching missile attacks on the capital Kyiv, a lot of people are understandably wondering if we are witnessing the prelude to World War III.
The short answer is, it could. So far we have seen a deluge of denouncements and sanctions from the West though there is currently no direct military confrontation between NATO and Russia.
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden vowed he would not deploy American troops to Ukraine.
“That’s a world war when Americans and Russians start shooting at each other,” he said.
Despite these assurances, the invasion of Ukraine has the potential to act as a powder keg as other countries with expansionist goals could be emboldened to get involved.
Award-winning journalist, Charles Miranda told news.com.au’s ‘I’ve Got News For You’ that the involvement of the great Cold War powers of the US and Russia along with the rest of Europe could escalate into a larger crisis and cause other countries to get involved.
“History will tell us when Germany invaded Poland that seemed like a natural time for Japan to flex its muscle in the Pacific,” he said.
“The pessimists amongst us will say, well if Russia is going to take Ukraine and then Poland, then perhaps Estonia, Lithuania and some of those Baltic States, there is nothing stopping China, while the world is distracted to move into Taiwan.”
Should China use events in Ukraine as an opportunity to expand in the Pacific, Miranda thinks it will be entirely likely Australia would be forced to get involved in the conflict.
“If something erupts here we will be called on certainly. In a maritime perspective we will have to deploy ships and co-ordinate the maintaining of international sea lanes and the like.”
Scott Morrison has said he believes China is watching the conflict “very carefully” warning them to “not even think” about invading Taiwan.
“I have been at pains to say that China needs to take a strong position as other countries in denouncing what Russia is doing,” Mr Morrison told Channel 7.
China has currently not imposed sanctions on Russia.
At present the Prime Minister has reassured Australians that he will not send troops into Ukraine, instead opting to provide assistance in the form of sanctions and accepting refugees from the region. Miranda said he didn’t think Australian boots on the ground was very likely due to the small size of our army.
“It’s basically the size of a small European city.”
Russia and particularly Vladimir Putin have had territorial ambitions in Ukraine for many years, long before the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Miranda pointed out.
“This has been his obsession since well before this conflict started in 2014 …[19]91 was the end of the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union and Putin has been hell bent since that day, vowing to return the Soviet Union to its former glory.”
Similarly, China was once a large empire, encompassing present-day Taiwan and Hong Kong. Just as Russia sees Ukraine as a country that exists on land that is historically and rightfully Russian, China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province to which it believes it has a territorial claim.
With all these tensions and competing claims playing out on the world stage, Miranda believes we are at a critical moment.”