Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed deep opposition to the idea of Sweden joining NATO, calling its potential membership of the U.S.-led alliance a “threat” that would need to be “eliminated.”
“If Sweden joins NATO this will affect our relations in a negative way because we will consider that the infrastructure of the military bloc now approaches us from the Swedish side,” Putin told state news agency Itar-Tass. “We will interpret that as an additional threat for Russia and we will think about how to eliminate this threat.”
Russian officials have repeatedly treated NATO expansion near or at its borders as encroachment, rather than a desire by their smaller neighbors to deter Russian military incursion as sustained by Ukraine in 2014. Currently only Montenegro is on the list of countries to be inducted into NATO, as Sweden and neighbor Finland opt to stay non-aligned. Currently, three Baltic states and Poland are members of NATO on Russia's borders.
Last year Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in Stockholm that Russia would take a military response to potential Swedish entry into NATO and on Thursday Putin elaborated on the extent of such a response.
“This does not quite mean that we will become hysterical and we will aim our nuclear missiles at Sweden,” Putin said. “But we will be obliged to undertake something because we see this as an additional threat to Russia.”
The Russian leader said “only a sick person” would imagine Russia attacking Sweden but noted that NATO membership would add “simply nil” in the way of defense capability improvements to Sweden.
Sweden and Finland have retained a partnership with NATO but have not sought membership, though speculation about them joining has mounted since Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday during a panel at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that the US investigations into whether the Kremlin meddled in the US election are nothing more than "hysteria," and that the anti-Russia sentiment in the US was about as virulent as anti-semitism. “It’s like saying everything is the Jews’ fault,” said Putin, who said the blame for Hillary Clinton’s November loss lies squarely at the feet of the Democratic presidential candidate and members of her party, according to a report.
“This reminds me of anti-Semitism,” Putin said. “The Jews are to blame for everything. An idiot cannot do anything himself, so the Jews are to blame. But we know what such attitudes lead to. They end with nothing good.”
Putin, who was being interviewed by NBC's Megyn Kelly, brushed off questions about meetings that members of the Trump campaign - including then-Sen. Jeff Sessions - had with Russian officials such as ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
“So our ambassador met someone. That's his job. That's why we pay him,” Putin said. “So what? What's he supposed to do, hit up the bars?”
Putin was amused when Kelly touched on the subject of Russian foreign news coverage spreading “disinformation.” Putin accused her “colleagues” of dragging Russia into their coverage unfavourably.
Donald Trump won because he had run a more effective presidential campaign than Hillary Clinton, Putin said, adding the US intelligence agencies may have faked evidence of Russian hacking, according to Reuters. Allegations of Russian involvement were nothing more than "harmful gossip," Putin insisted, there were no "Russian fingerprints" on the alleged hacks, Reuters reported.
Magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes near Alaska's Aleutian Islands
A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck near Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Saturday, June 3.
A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck near Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Saturday, June 3.
The United States Geological Survey reports a preliminary magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near Attu Station, Alaska on Saturday.
The quake hit at 9:24 a.m. local time at a depth of 31 kilometers near the Aleutian Islands.
There was no initial word on damage or injury resulting from the quake. More information on this earthquake is available on the USGS event page.
See the latest USGS quake alerts, report feeling earthquake activity and tour interactive fault maps in the earthquake section.
Video reveals world elites’ venue for Bilderberg 2017
On Thursday, WND sent a team to the Bilderberg Group 2017 meeting at the Westfield Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia. The Bilderberg Group is an annual, closed-door conference attended by a cabal of European and North American elite.
Attendees for this year range from the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, to the king of Holland. Even tech mogul Peter Thiel is on the list.
Security for the event is tight, and the hotel was on near-lockdown the day prior. Fencing was erected around the perimeter of the hotel, and fir trees were planted to block cameras.
The secretive nature of the event cannot be understated. All rooms are booked at the Westfield Marriott, and public meals at the hotel are canceled through the event. In the end, no resolutions are voted upon. No minutes are taken, and no statements are issued.
This event is perhaps the largest gathering of true elites in the world, and yet not a single detail of the outcome of the event is available to the public.
The top of the conference agenda for this year is “The Trump administration: A progress report.”
Not to be left out, President Trump has sent a number of his associates to the meeting: National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Trump’s new strategist, Chris Liddell.
Other topics include “The direction of the E.U.,” and more ominous titles such as “Why is populism growing?” and “The war on information.”
While the Bilderberg group releases this scant information publicly, it provides absolutely no real details regarding the nature of the discussion.
Outside the conference, dozens of Fairfax County police officers kept guard while several protesters milled about. Most of the cars seen going in and out were either law enforcement, or all-black vehicles with tinted windows.
The WND team interviewed two protesters outside the event, who expressed dismay at the globalist agenda allegedly pushed by Bilderberg Group members.
Protesters primarily identified as part of the Trump movement, a sharp turn from years past. Previously, much of the protests against the Bilderberg Group came from left-wing movements, such as Occupy Wall Street.
Despite heavy attendance by open borders advocates, the Bilderberg conference is surrounded by thick walls, zealous police and “no trespassing” signs.
Entrance to the conference in Chantilly, Virginia, attended by over 130 of the world’s top politicians, bankers, intelligence outfits and media owners, is tightly controlled by police and private security who ensure that only vetted, invited guests are allowed into the Westfields Marriott where Bilderberg is taking place.
Overall, Bilderberg has perimeter security similar to that of Eastern European countries which are currently boosting their border security amid the migrant crisis.
“A host of EU countries are set to demand Poland and Hungary accept their quota of migrants or they will face being booted out of the crumbling bloc,” the Daily Express reported. “Both countries have ignored EU proposals to relocate 160,000 migrants and the rest of the bloc is set to take action to ensure they share the burden.”
But if someone uninvited dared to enter the Bilderberg grounds, he’d be quickly arrested and removed.
Interestingly, the EU originated out of past Bilderberg meetings in which top globalists designed the framework for an unelected European bureaucracy that would slowly erode the national sovereignty of Old World nations.
The initial idea for the EU came as early as 1955 when the Bilderberg Group met in West Germany.
“…Pressing need to bring the German people, together with the other peoples of Europe, into a common market,” a leaked document from the 1955 meeting stated. “…To arrive in the shortest possible time at the highest degree of integration, beginning with a common European market.”
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The “common European market” later developed into the Euro and the trade regulations of the EU.
The elites attending Bilderberg see themselves as the “specialized class” responsible for steering the world because they believe the public’s “too stupid” to make their own decisions.
That’s why Bilderberg members have no problem demanding tight perimeter security for their own conferences but not for nation-states.
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