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I am not a military expert but I my opinion annexing Sweden would be strategically reasonable: 1) attacking Sweden does not trigger NATO article 5 (because Swe

I am not a military expert but I my opinion annexing Sweden would be strategically reasonable: 1) attacking Sweden does not trigger NATO article 5 (because Sweden in not in NATO), 2) Sweden will give close proximity to Germany and to the rest of central Europe, 3) Finland would become cut out and would very likely just surrender (or surrender sooner), 4) complete control over Baltic Sea makes helping Baltic states considerably harder by other NATO members. In many cases it makes seriously more sense for Russia to first attack Sweden than countries next to its border. I am not saying that Russia will just do it, but it may seriously consider it within a larger conflict. I therefore believe that there are serious reasons for Sweden to have considerable deterrence against it just happening when Russia just pleases it.

aquadrop 9y ago
> 2) Sweden will give close proximity to Germany and to the rest of central Europe, Russia already has Kaliningrad which is already very close to Germany and the rest of central Europe, for whatever reason you think it's good. It also all involves some larger conflict with western war, large scale war. But it's a suicide for Russia, this won't happen. Russia isn't a blood-thirsty monster that each day thinks how to conquer the world or die trying to... There's a lot of problems with Russia, but mostly poeple of Russia are the victims...
- eveningcoffee 9y ago
  >Russia already has Kaliningrad It was called Königsberg. It was once Germany but it is no where near Germany today - there is still this pesky Poland in between. Having control over Sweden also helps to deal with the Polish question... Let me stress it again. At current state attacking Sweden probably (and hopefully) will be suicide for Russia, but only thanks to respectable deterrence by Sweden. Otherwise, if Russia would consider attacking one of its western neighbours, it would make much more sense to attack Sweden first. I hope it makes it clear why it is ridiculous to ridicule Sweden for having a serious army. >mostly poeple of Russia are the victims... ... of their own delusions (i.e. NATO countries are trying to encircle them etc)?
  - rangibaby 9y ago
    In the event of an offensive war, Russia would go through Latvia and Lithuania to link with Kaliningrad. They could safely ignore Sweden. What is the point of opening a front there from a Russian perspective?
    - BoiledCabbage 9y ago
      > Russia would go through Latvia and Lithuania The absolutely crucial difference is that Latvia and Lithuania are both NATO countries, and that would trigger Article 5.
    - kbart 9y ago
      "What is the point of opening a front there from a Russian perspective?" The difference between attacking a country with sub-par military vs attacking the mightiest military alliance on the whole world?

aquadrop 9y ago

> 2) Sweden will give close proximity to Germany and to the rest of central Europe, Russia already has Kaliningrad which is already very close to Germany and the rest of central Europe, for whatever reason you think it's good. It also all involves some larger conflict with western war, large scale war. But it's a suicide for Russia, this won't happen. Russia isn't a blood-thirsty monster that each day thinks how to conquer the world or die trying to... There's a lot of problems with Russia, but mostly poeple of Russia are the victims...

eveningcoffee 9y ago
>Russia already has Kaliningrad It was called Königsberg. It was once Germany but it is no where near Germany today - there is still this pesky Poland in between. Having control over Sweden also helps to deal with the Polish question... Let me stress it again. At current state attacking Sweden probably (and hopefully) will be suicide for Russia, but only thanks to respectable deterrence by Sweden. Otherwise, if Russia would consider attacking one of its western neighbours, it would make much more sense to attack Sweden first. I hope it makes it clear why it is ridiculous to ridicule Sweden for having a serious army. >mostly poeple of Russia are the victims... ... of their own delusions (i.e. NATO countries are trying to encircle them etc)?
- rangibaby 9y ago
  In the event of an offensive war, Russia would go through Latvia and Lithuania to link with Kaliningrad. They could safely ignore Sweden. What is the point of opening a front there from a Russian perspective?
  - BoiledCabbage 9y ago
    > Russia would go through Latvia and Lithuania The absolutely crucial difference is that Latvia and Lithuania are both NATO countries, and that would trigger Article 5.
  - kbart 9y ago
    "What is the point of opening a front there from a Russian perspective?" The difference between attacking a country with sub-par military vs attacking the mightiest military alliance on the whole world?