Finland’s Nordic neighbour Sweden, on the brink of joining NATO, signed a similar deal last week.

NATO’s newest member, Finland, has announced it will sign a bilateral defence cooperation agreement next week with the United States.

The deal will allow Washington to station troops and store weapons inside the Nordic country, which shares a sprawling border with Russia.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told a news conference in Helsinki on Thursday that Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen will sign the so-called Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) on Monday.

  • @cheese_greater@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1•7 months ago

    There’s exceptions to every rule, including no exceptions. Russia is banking on US (both us and the United States) to facilely play by “the rules” and keep letting Hitler (noun) Hitler (verb)

    That’s on us, we should be so lucky to further box in Russia till they get alternative leadership with a new vision

    They’re not gonna bomb shit, that would take away any remaining leverage and is essentially akin to reifying Pascal’s wager at the nation state level and the SOOOOO not rhetorical realm in which bullies like and specifically Russia so fluorish in unopposed. And he knows how far more terrifying the loss of control that would represent and gurantee for him.

    We need to stop playing by Putinz/our rules and throw the fucking rulebook at him. Set a precedent that NATO will pull up its goddamn big girl panties and plug the fucking bloodshed regardless of the soverignty of whatever orifice from which it orginates

    Everybody needs to stop appeasing and take control. He can’t KGB or dirty-trix his way out of this, we have to realize we’re an elephant on a leash spun of imaginary silk and we are very much violently allergic such substance

    • @shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5•7 months ago

      👆🏻 Sane take right here.

      After this whole Ukrainian debacle, who thinks Russia has functional nuclear weapons? Remember when the US and the Soviet Union agreed to limited disarmament and inspected each other’s ICBM silos? And the Russians had rusty rockets and silos full of water? LOL, once we captured a defected Mig, the vaunted air superiority fighter, they were running vacuum tubes.

      There were hilarious videos at the beginning of the war. Russian soldiers joking and playing with their rusty AK-47s. Yes, 47s, not AK-74s or whatever variant is the latest, 47s. Twisted, bent main springs. Pins falling out. Rusted actions. Smack it a little, it’ll feed.

      Take a moment and imagine NATO warriors with such rifles. Really. Try to picture it. I have better shit in my safe. Last year they were fielding WWII tanks. Imagine what they’re fighting with now.

      FFS, Russia is begging artillery shells off North Korea. (And those shells are failing.) How hard up gotta be to bum ammo from your crackhead neighbor?!

      “Yeah man, I got these shells man. This is some good shit! Swear to god man! They fly! They explode! C’mon man, I got these two cheeseburgers!”

      Back to nukes. Someone will come along and say, “It takes ONE!” Now imagine the fallout (heh) from Russia letting ONE off the rails. Not like Putin has a literal red button. It will take a chain of orders and men willing to push that button. They will not do so. Putin may go completely mad, but his top brass is well aware that American boomers are on the prowl, and undetectable. Nothing defends the world’s peace like an Ohio class submarine.

      I grew up under the threat of Soviet nuclear annihilation. They are our enemies. They are on their heels. They started the biggest land war since WWII. Press the attack and call their bluff once and for all.

      Or, pussyfoot around and whine about Russia’s threats for another generation or three. Whatever.