![\"LATVIA-SWEDEN-NATO-POLITICS-DEFENCE\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_LATVIA-SWEDEN-NATO-POLITICS-DEFENCE.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSwedish Chief of Defence warns Moscow could carry out Baltic Sea ‘land grab’ at any time to test NATO’s resolve as military intelligence says Russia capable of war expansion<\/p>\n
Michael Claesson(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
Sweden is bracing itself for a potential Russian operation to seize the island of Gotland, according to the country’s military chief.<\/p>\n
Swedish Chief of Defence Michael Claesson warned that Moscow could execute a land grab “at any time” in order to put NATO’s determination to the test.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t have to be particularly extensive at all, but more to make a point and wait to see what might happen politically,” Claesson said.<\/p>\n
NATO military exercises have traditionally centred on a potential Russian land assault along the alliance’s eastern flank, however focus is now turning towards the Baltic Sea.<\/p>\n
War games have simulated possible Russian landings on strategically vital islands such as Gotland in Sweden, Bornholm in Denmark, and Hiiumaa and Saaremaa in Estonia.<\/p>\n
Swedish military intelligence has cautioned that Russia<\/a> is capable of broadening its conflict in the years ahead.<\/p>\n They further warn that any resolution to the Russian war could enable Putin to redeploy troops closer to NATO territory.<\/p>\n It follows US President Donald Trump<\/a> repeatedly rounding on NATO allies over what he regards as insufficient backing for the Iran war. Most recently, at a Turning Point event in Arizona on Friday, 17 April, Trump delivered a keynote speech in which he declared that his country must depend on itself.<\/p>\n Trump said: “If NATO teaches us any one thing, and I hope you all watched because they weren’t there for us, if it teaches us any one thing: we have to rely on ourselves.<\/p>\n “We can’t rely on outside countries and outside sources.”<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> has condemned a US decision to extend the period during which Russia is allowed to sell oil despite Western sanctions.<\/p>\n The move means countries can purchase Russian oil and petroleum products already loaded on vessels at sea until 16 May.<\/p>\n The US argues that the waiver is meant to ease the energy supply crunch sparked by the US-Israel war with Iran.<\/p>\n But in his remarks on Sunday, Zelensky said “every dollar paid for Russian oil is money for the war” in Ukraine<\/a>. Widespread sanctions have been in place against Russia since President Vladimir Putin<\/a> launched his full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Swedish Chief of Defence warns Moscow could carry out Baltic Sea ‘land grab’ at any time to test…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7655],"tags":[32,774,2821,332,59961,333],"class_list":["post-905853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-russia","tag-donald-trump","tag-iran","tag-nato","tag-russia","tag-turning-point","tag-vladimir-putin"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116434521883694632","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}