Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared that “Russian evil” is facing a new challenge in the form of Sweden officially gaining NATO membership.
Sweden formally joined the strategic alliance on Thursday, nearly two years after applying for membership in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The final hurdle was cleared less than two weeks ago, when Hungary’s parliament voted to approve Sweden’s accession.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly opposed NATO expansion and previously cited related concerns as one of the reasons for launching the Ukraine invasion. Regardless, Sweden and its neighbor Finland have both joined in the two years since the war in Ukraine began.
Ukraine has also applied to join NATO, although Kyiv achieving membership during the Russian war may be unlikely due to the likelihood of direct involvement with the alliance transforming the conflict into a world war.
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP
Zelensky congratulated Sweden on its membership while praising the Nordic nation for being “a strong ally and a country that can be trusted” during his nightly televised address on Thursday.
The Ukrainian president suggested that Sweden had been safeguarded from Putin’s “evil” and speculated that it would be congratulating Ukraine on its own membership at some point in the future.
“It is important to note that one more country in Europe has achieved greater protection from Russian evil,” Zelensky said. “When the security of one country is guaranteed and when that country is able to truly strengthen common security, everyone wins. This rule has worked consistently throughout NATO’s existence. And I believe it will work in the future.”
“Ukraine has always supported Sweden in its pursuit of NATO membership, and I thank Sweden for its support of our country – there will be a day when Sweden will be able to congratulate Ukraine on joining the Alliance as well,” he added. “Together, we are always stronger.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the office of Putin via email on Thursday.
Dr. Erwan Lagadec, associate research professor at George Washington University’s Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, previously told Newsweek that Putin was “fully cognizant of the fact that there’s not much he can do” concerning NATO’s expansion, “as his military is already overstretched in Ukraine.”
Sweden’s entry into the alliance delivered a strategic blow to Russia by completing the transformation of the Baltic Sea into what some have called “NATO lake.”
Nearly all other nations with Baltic coastlines—Finland, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia—were already members. The lone exception is the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which is located between Poland and Lithuania.
Sweden’s official membership was finalized by submitting required paperwork, the NATO instrument of accession, to the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson then participated in a short ceremony, where Blinken said that the development highlighted “the strategic debacle that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has become for Russia.”
“Everything Putin sought to prevent, he’s actually precipitated by his actions, by his aggression,” said Blinken. “And there’s no clearer example of that than Sweden becoming a member of this alliance.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.