Sweden raised combat readiness in response to a threat from Russia, said in an interview with the newspaper Dagens Nyheter Head of the General Staff of the Swedish Army Mikael Biden.
he said that the Swedish army is ready to act in several directions, not only on the Baltic itself, but also in the direction of Russian borders. “We do not sit back. We are ready for various events, not only in close proximity to us,” said the general.
Head of Staff recalled that in 2015 the Swedish Parliament decided to restore the military presence on Gotland – a strategically important island in the southeast coast of the country. There were additional troops in connection with Russian teachings. He suggested that a re-scenario is now possible.
Dagens Nyhete newspaper recalled that in April 2013, Russian bombers during the exercises imitated nuclear strikes on targets north of Gotland. Then no Swedish fighter flew out anxiety to accompany potential goals.
At the moment, Sweden is not included in the NATO block, but is its partner.
The official representative of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov said that there is no response from NATO to Russian security guarantees yet. Moscow expects to receive specific answers from Washington on this issue in January 2022.
On December 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia published projects of contracts with NATO and the United States on security guarantees, in which, in particular, it states that the Alliance should not create military bases in the territories of the former USSR republics that are not included in NATO. Washington also recommended not to use their infrastructure to maintain any military activity and not develop bilateral military cooperation with them.