Russia warns of nuclear deployment if Sweden and Finland join NATO

The Kremlin warned Western leaders on Thursday that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles to the heart of Europe if Sweden or Finland join NATO.

Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev took to Telegram to warn U.S. and European leaders that, “there can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic - the balance must be restored,” CNBC reported.

Medvedev also noted that Russia would be forced to strengthen its land, naval and air forces should any additions be made to the Western military bloc, adding that Europeans would have to get used to living with nuclear weapons close to home.

Although Finland and Sweden have both avoided joining the security organization, popular support for membership has grown significantly since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Finland – which shares an 810-mile-long border with Russia – has said that it will decide “in the next few weeks” if it will join the alliance.

Russia currently holds the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and is one of the global leaders in hypersonic missile technology, but Western leaders have started to question if Putin’s threats are empty. Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas on Thursday said that Russia has been deploying nuclear weapons to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave since before the current crisis.

"The current Russian threats look quite strange, when we know that, even without the present security situation, they keep the weapon 100 km from Lithuania's border," the minister said.

"Nuclear weapons have always been kept in Kaliningrad ... the international community, the countries in the region, are perfectly aware of this ... They use it as a threat.”

Millions of people have been killed, wounded or displaced since Russian President Vladimir Putin first announced his “special military operation” nearly two months ago. Although the United States has been slow to respond to Russian escalations, pundits fear that if the war continues, a wider confrontation between Moscow and Washington – the world’s two biggest nuclear powers – could arise.

Putin has justified his bloody campaign by claiming that the West has been using Ukraine to threaten Russian interests – further alleging that Zelensky’s government launched a systematic persecution of Ukraine’s Russian speaking population.

Ukraine, on the other hand, says it is fighting an imperial-style land grab and that Putin's claims of genocide are not based in fact. U.S. President Joe Biden has repeatedly called Putin a “war criminal” and a dictator and has called for more sanctions against Moscow as it prepares a new offensive in Ukraine’s eastern region.