"Why do they need this?" he [Putin] said.

Because the last country you said didn't need NATO is currently under 30% occupation by your military while the remaining 70% is being attacked daily by that same military of yours.

Yeah, but they won't have the problem of being invaded my russia.

"It's all fun and games until the trees start speaking Finnish."

Finland got accelerated NATO membership because of Russia/Putin making a bunch of threats about them so i think they damn well did have problems before. Fucking creep.

FAFO. Finland already has a reputation for knowing how to deal with stupid Russians.

You know which russian neighbour also didn't have any problems? Norway. And you know what? They have been a NATO founding member. Coincidence? I don't think so. The only one who is going to have a problem is vova.

I have absolute confidence that Finland will absolutely counter any aggressive actions all by themselves if they need to.

They have an absolutely staggering amount of artillery and you can be sure it’s all pre-sighted and ready to make any silly invasion attempts an absolute blood bath.

They also have a powerful and decentralised airforce, setup to operate from their highways and backwater air fields should the need arise.

Finland out of any nation in Europe would be the least of my worries about its ability to defend themselves, they have been gearing up and planning to defend against Russian aggression for generations, their people are motivated and I believe already armed with their service rifles after they complete their mandatory service period.

Add NATO membership into it and Russian threats are just laughable, dragging such a powerful and motivated foe into a war you are already struggling badly with would be incredibly stupid, not that that rules it out I guess.

Preeetty sure a lot of Finns right now would love nothing more than Putin to give them an excuse to uh, expend their munition stockpiles in an Easterly direction.

For now it's just barking. But we'll have years of this bullshit if the Russians 'win' in Ukraine, especially if Trump wins and weakens NATO by even hinting at the US not coming to the defence of allies.

Even if Putin isn't dumb enough to actually invade the Baltics or Finland, the Russians will engage in an endless stream of provocations. Military exercises and buildups near the border, bomber runs that are aborted at the last moment, that kind of thing. The likelihood of a miscalculation or mistake will increase dramatically.

On the other hand, if the Ukrainians win, Russia will never be able to withdraw significant amounts of troops from the Ukrainian border. Ukraine is a large and highly educated country, with a battle hardened military, and with a long history of weapons making. Russia will effectively have been muzzled for the foreseeable future.

Finland's plan is to smash a bunch of Nokia 3310s with runes on them, in a hydraulic press with Hakita's blood, and Simo Hayah will pop out of the fucking ether with a Mosin. Be afraid Russia.

Finland isn't just another NATO member, either. It puts Russia in a hairy strategic position.

In a war directly against NATO, Russia would have had access to the Atlantic through the Baltic Sea by way of St Petersburg. Now, though, NATO controls much of the Baltic Sea, and St Petersburg is in easy striking distance from either Finland or Estonia. It's also easier to hit the big Russian naval base at Murmansk. NATO can basically bottle up Russia from having any access to the Mediterranean and Atlantic.

Not only that, but NATO has less to worry about for supplying Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Russia could have cut them off between the Kaliningrad exclave and their ally Belarus, but that's less viable now.

Putin knows all this, and has to calculate what it means for starting anything. He's boxed in and he knows it. Really shows how much he failed merely by invading Ukraine at all.