US President Donald Trump may pull Sweden and Finland out of NATO as part of a peace deal with Russia over Ukraine, Jussi Lasila, a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told Finnish news agency STT.
“Trump's willingness to accommodate Russia may be truly unprecedented”, the researcher believes.
According to him, Trump may agree to Moscow's demand to return NATO to its 1997 borders if this is set as a condition during discussions on Russia's security issues. And this, the expert believes, will lead to the need to cancel the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO.
“We must be prepared for this and keep our cool“, warned Lasila.
Helsinki and Stockholm submitted applications to join the bloc after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. Finland officially became a member of the alliance on April 4, 2023, and Sweden on March 7, 2024.