"'If Ukraine had been part of NATO before the war, there would have been no war,'

 

NATO's border with Russia doubled on Monday, as alliance officials welcomed Finland into the now 31-member group in a ceremony in Brussels. The country's accession has been relatively quick—Helsinki formally applied for membership just last May—and would likely have been even quicker if not for Turkey's temporary hold. (Ankara is still stalling Sweden's application.)

Compatible militaries. The swiftness of the move reflects not only the wartime urgency that brought it about, but also the relatively small amount of work necessary to integrate Finnish armed forces with those of its new allies. Finland and fellow NATO applicant Sweden worked closely with Western armed forces during their decades of official non-alignment.

Russia vows "countermeasures." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Monday that his country will strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions, state-owned news agency RIA reported .

Putin's blowback. This latest NATO expansion is a direct reaction to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which he called a reaction to NATO expansion. CBS News: "The Nordic nations, including Finland, had shown little interest in becoming NATO members until Russia expanded its war in Ukraine. Though Finland had acted as a close NATO partner for many years, it was officially non-aligned. The West's refusal to send troops into non-NATO member Ukraine to help it defend itself, however, laid bare the risks of non-alliance.


"'If Ukraine had been part of NATO before the war, there would have been no war,' Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in May last year." .