As Ukraine gets wiped off the map, the European Union and NATO boasted about Sweden and Finland joining the 30-member TransAtlantic Alliance, something the White House says irks Russian Persident Vladimir Putin. When it comes the Ukraine War, there’s nothing for the U.S., U.K., EU and NATO to celebrate other than Turkey’s 69-year-old President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ending his objection to both countries joining. Calling joining NATO a “historic” moment, Sweden and Finland said it could take a year for final approval, something 79-year-old President Joe Biden sees as a pyrrhic victory. Since the end of WW II, Sweden and Findland caucused with the Western Alliance, despite maintaining a position of neutrality in NATO. Today’s announcement that Sweden and Russia join the TransAtlantic Partnership offers very little to the 30-member alliance
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, slated to takeover Norway’s top central banker by year’s end, congratulated Sweden and Finland for joining the TransAtlantic Alliance. “This is truly an historic moment. For Finland, for Sweden, for NATO, and for our shared security,” Stoltenberg said, knowing that Sweden and Finland have always been on NATO’s side. When it comes the Ukraine War, there’s not a lot to celebrate with Ukraine losing its entire Black Sea coast, watching the country partitioned and land-locked by the Russian Federation. “With 32 nations around the table, we will be even stronger and our people will be even safer as we face the biggest security crisis in decades,” Stotenberg said in a joint statement with Finland and Sweden foreign ministers. Last week’s NATO summit in Madrid got Erdogan to agree to allow both Nordic countries to join the Alliance.
Finland and Sweden agreed to stop any objection to selling war materiel to Turkey, something Erodgan insisted in any plan. When it comes to strengthening the 30-member NATO alliance, Finland and Sweden offer the Alliance two more official allies in the TransAtlantic Partnership. Biden used the opportunity to slap Putin in the face, letting the Russian leader know that he’s made NATO stronger by pushing Finland and Sweden to join the Alliance. When it comes to the Ukraine War, there’s very little for the Western Alliance to celebrate since the Russian Federation has gotten its way with Ukraine, seizing some 25% of Ukraine’s territory. If Biden and Ukraine’s neophyte President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted openly about their losses, the NATO announcement wouldn’t be as significant. Sweden and Russia add very little to NATO other than moral support.
When it comes to the Ukraine War, no NATO members, all 32, if you include Sweden and Finland, have committed any troops to Ukraine, despite the fact that Ukraine has also asked for NATO membership. Putin said Zelensky’s constant requests for NATO membership pushed him over the edge to invade Ukraine. Putin warned Sweden and Finland that if they place and aim missiles at the Russian Federation, that would prompt the Kremlin to respond in kind. So, if Sweden and Finland station more NATO troops or point U.S. or NATO ballistic missiles at the Russian Federation, Moscow vowed to take retaliatory measures, including aiming its own missiles at Sweden, Finland and Poland. Sweden and Finland know there are limits to what they can do without provoking the Kremlin to take action. Sweden and Finland risk their own security by antagonizing Putin.
Sweden and Finland bought Zelensky’s narrative that if the don’t stop Russia on their borders, Moscow could take over all of Europe. Putin’s been compared many times to Adolf Hitler, who after taking Poland in 1939, decided to start seizing one European country after another. But despite Zelensky or Biden’s rhetoric, there’s no evidence that Putin would start picking off former Soviet satellites. Yet that’s the White House and Kiev talking points, getting NATO to admit that Putin threatens Western democracies. When you look at the war effort, Ukraine has done very little to stop the Russian advance on all its strategic cities, especially up-and-down the Black Sea coastline. Biden and Zelensky can’t fathom the fact that they’ve lost so much sovereign territory, it’s going to be difficult to get it back. Stotenberg said last week that the Ukraine War could take years to reclaim lost territory.
Getting Finland and Sweden to join the TransAtlantic Partnership does next to nothing when it comes to the Ukraine War. Stotenberg touted the addition of Sweden and Finland as the “biggest overhaul of our collective defense and deterrence since WW II, all making up for what they’ve lost in Ukraine territory. Putin said he had no problem with Finland and Sweden joining NATO as long as they don’t point missiles at the Russian Federation. Joining NATO, though remaining neutral, through the Cold War, Sweden and Finland add very little to NATO collective defense. Whether NATO puts a total of 300,000 troops in the European Continent, it won’t change the battlefield in Ukraine, where the Kremlin holds a distinct advantage. Without anything to talk about Ukraine’s victories, adding Sweden and Finland to the 30-mber Alliance, does nothing other than satisfy Biden or Zelensky.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
