WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2022) Sweden will not become an increased threat to Russia if it becomes a member of the NATO military alliance, Swedish Ambassador to the United States Karin Olofsdotter said on Monday.
"This expansion of us to NATO, it's not confrontational to Russia, but we have seen what they have done, so it's safeguarding our own security," Olofsdotter said during an event at the Brookings Institution. "We are not going to be more threatening to Russia than we've ever been before because we have not been a threat to Russia (now)."
Olofsdotter added that the international community must do everything it can to make sure Russia does not conduct another special military operation again like the one in Ukraine. She mentioned that it has been Sweden's policy that it would seek to join NATO if Finland did so because the two countries' security ties are very close.
Olofsdotter and Finnish Ambassador to the United States Mikko Hautala said during the panel discussion that neither country is making the decision to join NATO out of a military need to place foreign forces in their countries.
The leaders of Sweden and Finland are currently in ongoing discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to win his support to allow both countries in NATO.
Erdogan has repeatedly said he cannot "assess positively" the membership of the Nordic states in NATO due to their support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party and Kurdish YPG militia, which are designated as terrorist organizations by Ankara.
