loading…
Mariupol region, Ukraine, devastated by Russian attack. Sweden warned NATO not to send troops to Ukraine because it would open World War III in Europe. Photo/Press Service of the Ukrainian National Police/Handout via REUTERS
So far, Sweden’s non-aligned status, along with NATO countries, has indeed helped Ukraine with arms supplies. However, it does not send military personnel and only allows volunteers.
Sweden’s warning was delivered by Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist.
“If NATO or the West come in with troops, then you’re open to World War III, and nobody wants that,” Hultqvist told reporters SVTThursday (10/3/2022).
Hultqvist also claims that the Kremlin has bigger plans than taking over Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow may also be eyeing other former Soviet states and calling the dissolution of the Soviet Union a major trauma for Russia.
Also read: CIA Director: Putin Angry and Frustrated, Will Grind Ukrainian Military
Moscow has insisted what it is doing in Ukraine is a special military operation aimed solely at the demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine, as well as protecting the Donbass People’s Republic – Donetsk and Luhansk – which Russian President Vlaidmir Putin has recognized as an independent state.
At the same time, Hultqvist defended his statement made in November 2021 that as long as he served as defense minister, Sweden would never apply for NATO membership, a hot issue in a historically unallied country.
Hultqvist assured him that he had not changed his mind. “But in a case like that you can’t say never,” he said.
Earlier this week, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that Sweden’s application for NATO membership was irrelevant under current circumstances.
–
