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Full Screen President Vladimir Putin may require Swedish exit from NATO, according to researcher Jussi Lassila. Photo: Pavel Bednyakov / AP
In the negotiations with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin may require Sweden and Finland to leave NATO.
That warning comes from Finnish researcher Jussi Lassila.
“We have to prepare for it and keep our heads cold,” he says.
On February 12, Putin and Trump talked on the phone. Six days later, the countries’ foreign ministers and other officials in Saudi Arabia met.
A new meeting between the United States and Russia is planned this week. Donald Trump said on Saturday that it should take place already on Tuesday, while the Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated that calls should be held “at the end of the week”.
Russian expert Jussi Lassila, senior researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute in Finland, warns that Putin may try to exploit Trump’s willingness to end the Ukraine war at all costs.
– Trump’s attraction to Russia’s views can reach proportions we have never seen before, he says In an interview with the Finnish news agency STT.
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Full Screen Sweden joined NATO in early March 2024. Photo: Nora Savosnick
May require Sweden to leave
Jussi Lassila points out that the Kremlin “has called for a broader debate about the security of Europe” and remembers the Russian requirements of December 2021 – just before the invasion – that NATO would not be allowed to bring in new members.
He warns that Putin can now repeat his claims that NATO’s boundaries will be restored to 1997. This would mean that bases and troops be withdrawn from Poland and the Baltic – and that Sweden and Finland are forced to leave again.
“We have to prepare for it and keep our heads cold,” he says.
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Full -screen civilian Jussi Lassila. Photo: Foreign Policy Institute
According to Jussi Lassila, Putin’s thoughts are still in the Cold War. He opposes that former Soviet states are independent and has built up a domestic political image that Russia is at war with NATO.
“Russia’s overall goal is to get the United States out of Europe and to leave Europe to Russia’s grace when it comes to security policy,” he says.
“Putin’s dream for two decades”
Arkady Moshes, program director at the Finnish Foreign Policy Institute, recently told STT That Putin has already taken home a major diplomatic victory just by meeting the US and Russia at the negotiating table.
– It’s something Putin has been dreaming about for two decades. Russia’s prestige has skyrocketed and Europe has collapsed.
Arkady Moshes also warns that Russia can exploit Donald Trump’s person.
– As politicians, Trump thinks that simple solutions are best. He prefers a solution such as the Jalta Conference than to gather 30 European countries at the same table. Trump doesn’t have time with that.