Finland: US troops within walking distance of Russian strategic nuclear forces Expert opinions on Caliber.Az

The Finnish and US authorities have negotiated a bilateral military cooperation agreement. If the agreement is reached, the US armed forces will be able to use the territory of Finland for training and placement of equipment and weapons, in fact, organising military bases in the country. The Helsingin Sanomat newspaper wrote about it with reference to Mikael Antell, the country's deputy defence minister.

The Finnish authorities believe the agreement will strengthen Finland's security and defence capabilities. Helsinki is already a party to several existing defence agreements with Western partners, but this document is special, Antell said.

It will allow the US to bring military personnel into Finland and keep them in the country, store weapons and invest in the necessary infrastructure. Nuclear weapons are not the subject of this agreement, the official specified.

The US already has agreements on the deployment of military bases with other NATO countries. Finland will sign the document as a new member of the alliance. Finland became a member of the bloc on April 4, 2023. After that the land border between Russia and NATO increased to about 2,600 kilometers.

In addition, Russia has received as a rival one of the most combat-ready armies, whose artillery troops are the largest in Europe - about 1,500 barrels, including 700 howitzers, 700 large-caliber mortars and 100 missile systems. Finnish artillery is more powerful than Poland, Germany, Norway and Sweden combined, according to the Woodrow Wilson International Science Centre.

So, what does the prospect of a US military deployment on Finnish territory mean for Finland? What role will it play for the security factor of the country? How can Russia react to this news?

Foreign experts answered these questions for Caliber.az.

As the well-known Estonian political scientist Peeter Taim says, this means that such a concept or phenomenon as “Finlandisation” can be sent to the dustbin of history.

“This is over for good. Finland instantly after February 24, 2022 turned into the same Russophobic country as the Baltic countries or Poland. The same thing - by the way - happened (for some reason) with Sweden. Unlike Ukraine, the Russian Federation did not attack the Baltic countries and Poland, since they are members of NATO. The Finns can also feel much safer as members of the alliance and have military from allied countries on their territory.

Russia's reaction? Well, let's hear another hackneyed howl from the swamps and maybe some fresh creativity in social networks from the "dimon". Russia should now take care and respond to the likelihood of the appearance of various ‘UFOs’ over Red Square somewhere around May 9,” says the Estonian expert.

In his turn, Konstantin Mashovets, a military observer, coordinator of the group "Information Resistance," colonel of the Ukrainian Army, an expert in defence planning, troop deployment and development of the Ukrainian army, noted that Finland will receive a significant financial and economic "supplement" to its budget and a higher level of defence and national security.

"There are many factors - from standardisation and unification of weapons and military equipment to strategic intelligence information concerning the military situation in the region. In fact, Finland is becoming a significant member of a powerful military-political bloc, which a priori reduces the chances of this country in the global (strategic) sense to become a kind of battlefield. I would say it reduces these chances to zero. This is the most important thing for the security of this country.

This is quite sensitive for the Russian Federation... In fact, the NATO (US) troops (forces) are within walking distance of several objects and areas, which are key in the system of strategic nuclear forces (SNF) of the Russian Federation.

However, I would not be too quick to see this as a threat, it is more of a precaution on the part of NATO, because in this sense the further development of the sociopolitical situation inside Russia may follow the most dramatic scenarios - after the Russian society realises the results of the war with Ukraine. US units near Russian nuclear facilities, in that case, are more of a boon than an evil," Mashovets concludes.