Sec Gen: Sweden, Finland Can Be Quickly Admitted On Request

NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg has stated that both Sweden and Finland could be 'quickly admitted' to the alliance should they request to do so amidst heightened tensions with Russia.

• The Finnish gov't has provided mixed signals recently on its potential NATO membership. New year's messages from PM Sanna Marin and President Sauli Niinisto said that Finland reserved the right for manouevre on joining NATO, and that a Russian military incursion into Ukraine could spark such a move. However, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto stated in an interview that Finnish NATO membership would only come as a result of a very specific set of circumstances.
• The Swedish military announced earlier today that it would increase its visible activities on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea in response to the deployment of Russian landing craft in the Baltic.
• Earlier today Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov raised the stakes between Russia and the West, threatening to walk away from talks unless NATO commits to non-expansion further eastwards. Did not rule out the placing of military infrastructure in Cuba or Venezuela in the event relations with the US do not improve.