Sweden and Finland agree to submit Nato applications, say reports Two countries could apply for membership simultaneously as soon as mid-May, according to reports https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/sweden-and-finland-agree-to-submit-nato-applications
As I have said before, it is a bit like Obamacare, you cheap out and not pay for any insurance over the years and then sign up when you have a heart attack. Some truth to that.
I've read this post a number of times. Prescient if you ask me. Seems to me that NATO trying to bring in Ukraine has been used by Putin to tee up an invasion. The language Putin used was, to me, very recognizable. It was the same language Hitler used to invade the Sudetenland. He stated that german-speaking people where being "abused" and "denied fundamental rights" then invaded. The parallel is not lost here. For the life of me I cannot see the motivation here except perhaps the acquisition of Black Sea access. I mean, Russia already has sea access to the Baltic at St. Petersburg but apparently they need that Black Sea port. If that is true then they must take Odessa.