Sweden and Finland really want to join NATO, why is Putin cowardly?

On May 17, Sweden, which is known as non-aligned for two hundred years, suddenly announced that it would formally sign the application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Finnish government followed suit.

Facing the chain reaction caused by the defeat of the Russian-Ukrainian war and such a major international event, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has always been tough, said: Finland and Sweden joining NATO did not pose a direct threat to Russia, but warned NATO not to send weapons to the two countries.

It’s ridiculous, at the end of February, in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Putin delivered an important televised speech, in which he talked about three reasons for the invasion of Ukraine:

The first point, and the most extensive, runs through the whole text, that is, the eastward expansion of NATO has seriously threatened Russia’s national security, and the deepening of Ukraine’s military cooperation with NATO has deeply disturbed Putin. Putin feels that an “anti-Russian” force is form.

The second point is that the so-called Ukrainian nationalists and neo-Nazis are committing genocide in certain parts of Ukraine.

The third point is to support several independent republics that have been separated from Ukraine under the support of Russia.

Here I don’t want to talk too much about whether the reasons for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are tenable, because there have been too many articles and analysis for a long time, and this analysis is enough to write an article. Here, I just want to briefly mention One point is that Russia fights against NATO and expands the living space for the Russians (classmates who are familiar with history must be familiar with this term), which is essentially going to other people’s homes to expand living space, and Ukraine is neither a dictatorship nor a totalitarian government. , Where is the justice of Russia reflected?

Well, let's go back to the question of joining NATO with Sweden and Finland. There is no need to doubt that, although the procedures are only starting now, it will not be long before Sweden and Finland will join NATO quickly. These two countries are fully qualified. To become a member of NATO, for a long time, they just want to remain neutral and do not want to join NATO.

Once Sweden and Finland officially joined NATO, the embarrassment for Russia and Putin will come, that is, the territorial boundary between NATO and Russia will be greatly increased, and the Baltic Sea will almost become NATO's inland sea, compared to Ukraine's capital Kyiv. The distance from Moscow, Finland is not too conceited.

More importantly, Finland is only one step away from St. Petersburg, the main city of Russia, not to mention strategic missiles, not to mention mortars.

All in all, in any case, you can't tell that Finland and Sweden joining NATO will have less impact on Russia than Ukraine.

So, why is Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has always been tough on the outside, cowardly this time? The reasons are multi-layered.

First, the direct impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Putin's ideals are very full, but Russia's reality is very skinny. As the second largest military power under the United States, Russia has been fighting in Ukraine for several months, but the results are few, and the weakness of military strength is undoubtedly exposed. At this time, Russia not only There is no ability to fight on two fronts in Ukraine, the Nordics, or even to put pressure on the Nordics militarily.

Russia’s current situation can be unbearable. It can only be said that the powerful appearances of political strongmen and dictators are often hypotheses created by media public opinion. Their intelligence and their ability to obtain information and process information are not necessarily better than ordinary people.

Second, Great Russianism is not yet in the Nordics. As a political strongman and dictator, Putin's main public opinion now supports Great Russiaism. Historically, Sweden was not part of Great Russia. The two sides were competitors. Finland was an autonomous region under Great Russia. relation.

The relationship between Ukraine and Great Russia is completely different from the two. If you really want to push forward, it can be said that Russia has been a part of Ukraine since ancient times, because in ancient times, the earliest country in Russia was called Kievan Rus, and the Rus people are now The direct ancestors of the Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians, and the capital of Kievan Rus is the Kyiv region, the capital of today's Ukraine.

Third, Russia cannot afford to offend Sweden and Finland. Sweden and Finland are not world powers in terms of total GDP, but behind them is the European Union. These two countries are both official member states of the European Union. It is quite a few times that of Ukraine.

With the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, the economic pressure within the EU has increased greatly, and it is even more important to pay more attention to the backbones such as Sweden and Finland. So this is why, as Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO, NATO immediately expressed their protection. Of course, there is the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it is also because Sweden and Finland are not as isolated and helpless in Europe as Ukraine.

All in all, in the face of Sweden and Finland, even if Putin wants to be tough, he can only be tough. His only strength now is nuclear weapons. The ultimate toughness must be, and can only be, a verbal nuclear threat.

From the very beginning of this Russian-Ukrainian war, Putin wanted to gain the greatest political benefits by quickly occupying Ukraine and obtaining enough leverage to negotiate with the West. Putin did not expect his army to be so unbearable, nor did he expect Ukraine’s resistance. So tenacious.

Russia's political toughness and military weakness finally forced Sweden and Finland, who had no desire to join NATO, to protect themselves by joining NATO. This is really the best modern example of shooting itself in the foot, and it also confirms that China's There is an old saying: if God does evil, you can still live, but if you do it yourself, you can't live.

At the end of the article, I pay tribute to the Ukrainians who are still bravely resisting aggression at this moment.

Be free or die.