Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova today hinted at possible retaliation against Finland and Sweden if they join NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). The international military group is at the center of the conflict between Ukraine and the government of President Vladimir Putin, which does not want Ukrainians to join the organization.

“All member countries Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] in their national capacities, including Finland and Sweden, have reaffirmed the principle that the security of one country cannot be built at the expense of the security of another,” he said. on the same day representatives of the two European countries met with the board of the Atlantic Alliance.

If Ukraine, Finland and Sweden join Otan, Russia is worried that the powers of the alliance member states will occupy its borders. OSCE is the largest regional security organization in the world, which includes all European countries, Russian Federation, Central Asian countries, Mongolia, USA and Canada, with a total of 57 members.

wanted by UOLThe Finnish and Swedish embassies in Brazil have not yet commented on the government’s statement Russia until the last update of this report.

A Demonstrations of the Russian government about the possible entry of Finland and Sweden in NATO came after the secretary general of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, to invite these two countries to participate in the virtual summit about the situation in and around Ukraine.

Russia vs NATO: 7 decades of rivalry

A NATO is a military alliance with a mandate to work on a common security policy. If a NATO member country is invaded, it will be considered an invasion of all NATO member countries. All member states must then act against the invasion.

During World War II, US and Soviet Union are two superpowers.

On December 25, 1991, The Soviet Union was divided into 15 new countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

After that, the US remained the only superpower. Led by America, NATO continued its expansion and countries that left the Soviet Union began to join. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined in 2004. Georgia and Ukraine were offered NATO membership in 2008but have not been able to join the military alliance.

Putin opposes expanding NATO. “America is at our doorstep with missiles. How would America feel if missiles were deployed on the Canadian or Mexican border?” the Russian president said in December, asking for assurances that Ukraine would not join NATO.

What does this have to do with Ukraine?

A Russia wants NATO to stop its expansion in Eastern Europe. As well as demanding assurances from NATO that Ukraine will not accept its membership, Putin also wants the group to return to its pre-1997 status and stop the spread of weapons around Russia.

In addition, Russia is contesting the accession of 14 countries that are part of the Warsaw Pact, which was signed in response to the formation of NATO in 1955. Its purpose is to provide military protection to member states. However, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the agreement became redundant.

Prior to 1917, Russia and Ukraine were part of the Russian Empire. When the Russian Empire collapsed after the Russian Revolution, Ukraine declared its independence. But joined the Soviet Union in a few years.

Ukraine gained independence in 1991 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. There are two parts of eastern and western Ukraine. Ukrainians living in the east consider themselves closer to Russia and those in the west to be allied with the European Union.

Russia-backed rebels have control of large swaths of eastern Ukraine. In this region, Russia recognizes Donetsk and Luhansk as separate countries. In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea.

The Ukrainian army is much smaller than that of Russia: while the armies of European countries have 261,000 troops, the Russian army numbers up to 900 thousand.

In addition, Russia’s defense budget is 10 times higher than that of Ukraine. Under such circumstances, Ukraine needs a military organization that can guarantee its protection and there is nothing better than NATO for that at the moment.