NATO Scaring Sweden Into Joining Alliance Using 'Russian Threat' - Official

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s report released on January 28, over the past three years Russia has conducted at least 18 large-scale snap exercises, some of which included simulated nuclear attacks on NATO Allies, including Sweden.

“Statements like these have a completely different angle. Very hot debates are currently going on in Sweden today on the issue of the country retaining its neutrality, and there are other forces that are trying to bring Sweden into NATO. One of these ‘scary things’ was done in statements by a NATO report on alleged Russian nuclear exercises."

"There’s only one reason, which is to try to increase the development of Russophobia and fear in the Swedish society’s opinion so as to try and bring the country into the Alliance,” Meshkov told RIA Novosti in an interview.

Meshkov stressed that Russia sticks to so-called negative security assurances that stipulate that the nuclear powers will never use nuclear arms against non-nuclear states that have no relevant contractual relationship with the nuclear states, so the speculations around alleged nuclear strike scenario and Sweden are "meaningless."