Russian invasion
Nuclear weapons in the Baltic Sea region: dire warnings from Moscow
Around two weeks after switching to ruble payments for Russian gas, Kremlin chief Putin allegedly complained about payment defaults caused by western banks. Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa
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The world hasn’t been the same since the Russian attack on Ukraine. Western countries are planning to turn away from Russian energy, while Finland and Sweden are considering joining NATO. Now Russia is reacting.
50 days after the start of the Ukraine war, Russia issued dire warnings to the West on Thursday. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin predicted negative consequences of an energy embargo against Russia.
His predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev, threatened to station nuclear weapons in the Baltic region if Finland and Sweden joined NATO.
threats from Moscow
Because of the Ukraine war, Finland and Sweden are now seriously considering joining the western defense alliance NATO. Ex-President Medvedev reacted angrily to this. “In this case, there can no longer be any talk of a nuclear-weapon-free status for the Baltic States,” wrote Putin’s confidante on Telegram.
The politician, Deputy Head of the Security Council, specifically threatened the stationing of “Iskander” missiles, hypersonic weapons and warships with nuclear weapons – for the Finns and Swedes, for example, within range “of their own homes”. “We want to hope that common sense will prevail on the part of the northern partners,” said Medvedev. But if not, then Russia will act.
Kremlin: World is becoming “even more unsafe”
“Perhaps the world will soon become even more insecure, i.e. by the summer of this year,” said a confidante of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. “It means that Russia will have more officially registered opponents,” said Medvedev. Moscow will react to this with a “cool head”.
For Russia, if Finland joins NATO, the land border to NATO territory will more than double. These borders would then have to be secured, also by means of anti-aircraft defense and a massive naval presence. So far, Russia has been able to do without such steps.
Medvedev said that regardless of the conflict in Ukraine, NATO had previously tried to expand its sphere of influence to these countries. At the same time he made it clear that Sweden and Finland had nothing to fear so far. “We don’t have territorial disputes with these countries like we have with Ukraine. That’s why the price of membership is different for us,” said Medvedev.
Russia is opposed to Ukraine joining NATO, partly on the grounds that Kyiv could use force to take back Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed from Moscow in 2014. Putin has repeatedly warned of a war between Russia and NATO.
Putin accuses Western banks of defaulting on gas payments
A little later, Putin himself made accusations against western states that obtain gas from Russia: “The banks from these extremely unfriendly states are holding back the transfer of payments,” said the president. At the end of March, Putin instructed that EU countries could only pay for Russian gas in rubles. However, he gave subscribers the option of depositing dollars and euros into an account at Gazprombank as before and having the bank convert it. It was initially unclear where the problems should lie.
However, Putin made a clear statement about the increasing demands in the EU for an embargo on Russian gas and oil: “The consequences of such a step can be very painful – especially for the initiators of such a policy.”