Swedish foreign minister outlines NATO priorities to put end to Russia's "irresponsible" actions

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström has stated that NATO countries should seek to create more strategic difficulties to curb Russia's behaviour, with the top priority being to stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, citing Euractiv, a news website covering EU affairs

Quote from Billström: "We have to understand that Russia is a neighbour that is behaving irresponsibly, which is threatening the world with irresponsible nuclear threats and the idea of recreating its former empire at the expense of independent sovereign states (…) We have to put an end to that. We have to create more strategic difficulties for Russia."

Details: The minister stressed that stopping Russia's aggression against Ukraine must be the top priority. He believes the Alliance is not doing enough in this regard.

Euractiv noted that the Swedish minister's comments partially echo recent statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, who pushed for "strategic ambiguity" towards Russia and hinted at the possibility of deploying Western troops to Ukraine, which caused a stir among Western allies.

Billström said Macron's idea would be too bold for Sweden, which has just joined NATO in March.

"Regarding the French proposal to train Ukrainian personnel on Ukrainian soil, it’s not on the table for Sweden," the minister explained, hinting that Stockholm considers the debate over Macron's comments to be untimely.

However, the Swedish foreign minister stressed that "not all countries understand the sense of urgency" to stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

"Those countries need to understand that the conflict is here and that we need to deal with it. NATO is not doing enough for Ukraine," Billström said, adding that Ukraine's Armed Forces need "more of almost everything".

The minister believes providing Ukraine with more military equipment "is not a question of industrial capacity" but "comes down to political leadership and political will".

Background:

• Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis believes there is a greater chance that Vladimir Putin will be deterred by Macron's strategic ambiguity and his clearly defined goal of defeating Russia.
• French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné stated that Paris wants to increase strategic ambiguity towards Russia.

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