Finland and Sweden’s possible NATO membership has kicked up a new fuss over the alliance’s expansion eastwards, closer to Russian borders, which Moscow has repeatedly stressed to be dead set against. This was actually one of the key factors for security guarantees Russia put forward to the United States and NATO in December last year. Still, then it was more about Ukraine's non-aligned status.

Today, apart from Ukraine, Finland and Sweden are also willing to join the bloc, with Russia's stance utterly defied, although the issue directly affects our country’s national security. As things stand now, Moscow needs support from other countries, one of which is, be it noted, the People’s Republic of China.

As Britain’s Daily Express writes, Beijing has backed Russian President Vladimir Putin as regards NATO non-expansion to the east. British readers do not particularly apprehend enlargement reasons and dub the situation "sheer madness". The outlet notes that prior to the Winter Olympics in China, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping issued a joint statement accusing NATO of Cold War ideology commitment. Back then was it clear that Beijing would support Moscow in this matter.

Notably, it’s not for the first time that the Chinese government supports Russia's stance as regards NATO expansion. By the way, it was the alliance's eastward advance to become Moscow’s key reason to launch its special military operation to protect the Donbass population. President Putin has repeatedly accused NATO of trying to weaken Russia and (shortly before February 24) demanded that the military bloc give up on its enlargement, including Ukraine.

Just a reminder: China does not openly condemn Moscow’s operation in Ukraine and maintains neutrality. Beijing confines itself to what it calls "alarming" reports by Western politicians and the media on “human rights violations by Russian troops in that country,” thereby creating condemnation with the Western countries, primarily the United States.

The Chinese side is time and again reiterating anti-NATO statements. On May 3, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijiang tweeted an excerpt from a conversation transcript between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and then US Secretary of State James Baker of February 9, 1990: "Not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction." The Chinese diplomat accompanied his tweet with an infographic comparing the number of NATO members in 1990 before the USSR collapsed, and today. The maps highlight countries that have since become members of the alliance, including Poland and Romania whom it actively uses in countering Russia.

However, Finland and Sweden’s membership has yet to be addressed. On June 28 to 30 Spain will host the summit expected to yield the final decision. Key NATO members support the prospect, but accession approval requires unity from all the 30 countries. There might be a problem with Croatia here, even though it never triggered concern with Brussels before.

As recently as on May 3, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic addressed those celebrating Vukovar city day, saying he would exercise his right of veto on Sweden and Finland joining NATO in case of having such an opportunity, which is a coin toss, however. One shouldn’t cherish illusions that the politician supports Russia by so doing. Experts believe this is rather part of Milanovic's struggle with pro-American Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, who wants to further curtail the powers  of the president as the country’s figurehead.

Let's bear in mind that people of Finland and Sweden are also concerned about their countries’ possible accession to NATO. In a piece dated May 5, Britain’s Financial Times wrote that both nations are anxious about their security between submitting the membership application and official affiliation, when they won’t be protected by Article 5 of the Washington Treaty providing collective defense to all the NATO countries.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper ABC published on May 4, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned "neighbors from Northern Europe on a regular basis and for quite a long time that their being pulled into the NATO’s orbit threatens to unbalance the system of European security." She also said that in case of joining NATO, Helsinki and Stockholm will become confrontation space between the alliance and Russia. "In case Finland and Sweden join the alliance, they will turn into a space for confrontation of the North Atlantic bloc with Russia will all the ensuing consequences, including for our time-tested good-neighborly relations," Zakharova stressed.  

It is entirely possible that such warnings play an important part in Finnish and Swedish public sentiment, as the nations are disquieted about their safety before being officially accepted to the bloc. Direct security guarantees for Helsinki and Stockholm are not argued, but they expect support and public statements from the United States, Great Britain and NATO.

However, given US President Joe Biden’s commitment to NATO’s open-door policy, it is safe to assume that Washington will render comprehensive assistance to Finland and Sweden in providing transitional period security guarantees. After all, the overriding goal of the United States and NATO is countering Russia. And that's the bottom line.