Nato expansion, compliments of Mr Putin

ONE of President Vladimir Putin’s goals for his invasion of Ukraine was to upend the balance of military power in Europe. Putin has achieved that goal, but surely not in the way he intended.

Instead of strengthening Russia and pushing Nato back to its Soviet-era frontiers, Putin now faces an alliance more united than at any other time since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, more determined to curb Russian revanchism and — with two major Northern European powers, Sweden and Finland, seeking membership — more formidable as an adversary. At the Nato summit in Madrid this week, the road now looks clear for the alliance to expand by encompassing those two nations.

But in the rush to counter Putin and deter Russia from such aggression, the United States and its allies should not lose sight of the fateful choices they are about to make. They should take a clear and sober look at what they really want their alliance to be and what inviting Sweden and Finland entails. The heart of the alliance, Article 5, pledges every member to come to the defence of any member.