Sweden said the United States has given it security assurances that it will provide support to the European country if it should choose to apply for NATO membership, Reuters reports.
The US would provide assurances against Russian intrusion during the time it take the NATO members to vote on Sweden’s membership. Russia has threatened aggression if it feels NATO recruiting its border neighbors; Russia invaded Ukraine because, it claims falsely, that Ukraine was imminently joining the Western alliance.
Sweden and its neighbors, Finland and Norway, have been repeated targets of Russian/Soviet aggression throughout history. The Finland and Sweden have resisted joining NATO, but with Russia’s naked ambition in the region, are reconsidering their security options.