Russia warns of nuclear weapon use if NATO expands as Sweden and Finland are contemplating joining the alliance. Deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia will double its forces in the western flank should Sweden and Finland join NATO.
Ground- and air-defense forces would be beefed up, he wrote on Telegram, and Russia would deploy “significant naval forces” in the Gulf of Finland.
If Sweden and Finland join NATO, Medevedev added, “it will no longer be possible to talk about any non-nuclear status of the Baltic — the balance must be restored.”
CIA Director Bill Burns urges the western governments to take these seriously. Russia has the largest collection of nuclear arsenals including intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons,” he said in public remarks at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The CIA “watch for that very intently,” Burns said. But he emphasized that the US has yet to see any signs that Russia is preparing to take such a step.
“While we’ve seen some rhetorical posturing on the part of the Kremlin about moving to higher nuclear alert levels, so far we haven’t seen a lot of practical evidence of the kind of deployments or military dispositions that would reinforce that concern—but we watch for that very intently,” Burns said.
“His circle of advisors has narrowed and in that small circle it has never been career-enhancing to question his judgment or his stubborn, almost mystical belief that his destiny is to restore Russia’s sphere of influence,” Burns said.