Russia threatens to deploy nuclear weapons if Finland, Sweden join NATO

Russia threatened to deploy nuclear weapons in and around the Baltic Sea if Finland and Sweden join NATO as tensions are fueled by Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

In a Telegram post on Thursday, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chief of the Security Council and former president, said Russia may deploy Iskander missiles, hypersonic weapons and nuclear-armed ships in the region.

Medvedev s comments are among the most detailed threats Russia has issued over the possibility that its northwestern neighbors might join the alliance after decades of staying out. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, both Finland and Sweden have said they are stepping up the consideration of the issue.

Medvedev said he hoped that reason would prevail and the countries would decide not to join the alliance.

If they do, that would be more than double the length of Russia's land border with the alliance, he said. He said that we will need to strengthen our land forces and anti-aircraft and deploy substantial naval forces in the Gulf of Finland basin.

Medvedev claimed that Russia s move wasn't to blame for NATO membership, even though the initiatives to consider membership in both countries picked up only after the invasion. At the same time he suggested that while keeping Ukraine out of the Western Alliance was a key goal of Russia's operation there, he suggested that it sees the situation with Finland and Sweden differently.

He said that they don't have territorial disputes with those countries like they do with Ukraine. The price of membership for us is different.