Sweden will allow the US to station nuclear weapons within its territory should war break out between NATO and Russia, the formerly neutral Scandinavian country’s Prime Minister has said.
Ulf Kristersson has also pledged close cooperation with the Baltic nations in what is a key strategic region on Vladimir Putin’s doorstep.
Mr Kristersson, whose country only became a member of the alliance in March, a month before neighbours Finland, was questioned about whether he would allow the US to deploy its weapons in the event of war with Russia.
He agreed, saying: “In a war situation, it’s a completely different matter.”
Mr Kristersson is today hosting a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz and the Nordic prime ministers in Stockholm.
At the same time, the three Baltic prime ministers are meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital.
In an op-ed in Swedish business paper Dagens Industri, he said: “We have long appreciated our neighbours, but at the same time underestimated the importance of concrete, operational cooperation.
“If you want to cooperate well, you have to meet, get to know each other, and seek broader common alliances – in both NATO and the EU.”
The Baltic Sea is now almost surrounded by NATO countries, strengthening the alliance in the strategically important region.
It includes maritime access to the Russian city of St Petersburg and the Kaliningrad enclave.
Mr Kristersson said that in recent weeks he had held a series of meetings with his regional counterparts and “discussed issues that are important to both them and Sweden: defence, forestry, the climate, migration, crime and the security threats from Russia”.
Security policy and NATO’s upcoming summit in July in Washington would top the agenda for the meeting with Scholz and the leaders of Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Iceland, he added.
In Vilnius, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte hosted Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina for a meeting of the Baltic Council of Ministers.