From Paris, London, and Washington, events in Ukraine appear to be a new cold war starting in Europe. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the status quo of traditionally divided Finland and Sweden, ushering in a “historic” wave of NATO support. According to the Interfax news agency, Russia will continue to invade Ukraine until Russia achieves its goals. The eastern Ukrainian conflict in the east of Ukraine is fraught with further deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations. It could even escalate further if Russia expands its Russian presence in Ukraine or NATO countries.
Despite Moscow’s denials of involvement, eastern Ukraine and NATO reported Russian troops and military equipment were massed near Donetsk, and Russia was bombing the border. Russia’s actions have raised broader concerns about Russia’s intentions in the rest of Eastern Europe. A Russian invasion of a NATO country would provoke a reaction from the United States as a NATO ally. Russia’s recent military activity near Ukraine has raised alarms in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Washington, and Europe. In addition, the attacks have sent shockwaves across the Baltic Sea.
A direct military attack on Sweden seems unlikely
Russia’s actions have rekindled the Swedish debate about NATO membership. The Russian invasion has also sparked a heated discussion over NATO in Sweden, where Ukraine’s high level of support is the nail in the coffin of Sweden’s traditional policy of non-alignment. By pointing its weapons towards a European war, Ukraine has violated the Swedish doctrine of neutrality. The Ukrainian crisis has led the majority of the population to lean toward NATO membership, another historical innovation. During the current Russian-Ukrainian crisis, NATO states such as the Netherlands have demonstrated their ability to help Sweden defend Gotland from a Russian attack.
Although Finland and Sweden have a strategic interest in not angering Russia, they already maintain a cooperative relationship with NATO. Latvia has long viewed Russia as a threat, but unlike Ukraine, it has joined the European Union and NATO to provide security. Lavrov in Stockholm echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning about NATO military aid to Ukraine and reiterated the Kremlin leadership’s stance to give Ukraine or what Russia considers to be within Russia’s sphere of influence. It was a grave mistake for other countries to join NATO. Speaking at a virtual meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Schultz, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the three countries should work together to support Russia and Ukraine peace talks between them.
Incoming peace talks
According to a Russian source quoted by the TASS news agency, the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine will occur soon. In recent weeks, Baltic government leaders have returned to European capitals to warn that the West must make Russian President Vladimir Putin pay for Thursday’s attack on Ukraine. His tanks will continue to sail into the rest of the country. The prospect of rhetoric and conflict has grown sharper against a massive Russian military buildup near Ukraine, former Soviet republics, and democracies caught between Russia and western Russia. The Ukrainian conflict has displayed racial and political divisions surrounding Ukraine’s relationship with Russia.
Much will depend on how the current Russian-Ukrainian crisis continues to change the concept of security for the Swedes. The Swedes are aware of the security challenges regarding Russian troop movements and Ukraine’s threats to Ukraine. Russian military threats to Ukraine and Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Republican senators introduced a bill to ban uranium imports from Russia Hillicon Valley – Invasion complicates social media politics solution to their policy of non-alignment with NATO.
War will push other countries to join NATO
A Russian military invasion of Ukraine will push Finland and Sweden to join NATO as soon as possible. However, if Russia believes that Russia can end NATO expansion by invading Ukraine, it could do the opposite. With a pro-Russian eastern Ukraine, Russia will be able to push Russian weaponry to push NATO further away from the Russian border and the Black Sea. At the same time, Putin will turn the Russian economy from there mainly to the east.
According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the Ukrainian foreign minister has asked his Chinese counterpart in Beijing to use his connections with Moscow to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Tuesday that the attitude of citizens and politicians towards NATO membership is “changing” after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken, meeting with his Russian counterpart in Stockholm on Thursday, warned Russia in no uncertain terms against an invasion, a scenario that Ukraine, backed by both NATO and the Biden administration, called a real possibility.
Warsaw is backing Kyiv with defensive weapons but has said it will not send planes to Ukraine because Poland is not a direct party to the conflict between Ukraine, which is not a NATO ally, and Russia. For Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians—especially those old enough to live under Soviet control—Russian belligerence toward Ukraine somehow worries that Estonians might be the next target. In addition, military analysts and diplomats say that while ties with China are under increasing pressure from the United States, a Russian invasion of Ukraine could primarily disrupt the trade that has helped the expanding Chinese military modernize over the past two decades.
