World Affairs International

Turkey has cleared the way for Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership after a trilateral meeting on the eve of the 2022 Madrid NATO summit. With Finland and Sweden agreed to recognize Turkey’s security concerns. Though the move has soured relations between Turkey and the alliance and badly damaged its reputation amongst western citizens, the ploy underscores the growing Turkish influence on the alliance, particularly in the Caucasus, where Russia could turn next.

As Russia begins pushing into Lysychansk, NATO is likely to bolster its defenses across Eastern Europe while giving even more materiel to Ukraine. Recently, Ukrainian officials have been worried “over a potential chemical or nuclear attack. Reporting by Russian propaganda seems to indicate that Russia will frame Ukraine for a chemical attack, likely to gain reason to retaliate with their own.