Finland Turns over its sovereignty & Grants the US Access to 15 Bases: What will Russia do?

All right, hello everybody and welcome to Geopolitical Trends, where truth matters. Excited to be with you as always. Hope you had a, a relaxing weekend and you know you're up to a new week. So it's always nice to have that positive attitude to start the day, the week, the month of the year, what have you. So anyway, very, very excited because of also the topic I am going to be talking to you about. I wrote about Finland in my Russia book, and I will provide you some insights regarding the, uh, my own research that I did back then, which applies to today. Funny enough how in the world of geopolitics you never say something is constant. There is always change into all this one. So, so today's topic, I will be talking about how Finland granted now access to the United States of 15 of its bases, meaning Finland's bases. Those are not like you and I, the way we understand the major military base. No, those are what we call FOBs, forward operating bases. Those are small. It's not like something where— because remember, Finland also will have to keep secrets, its own stuff. They don't want the US to know. So a lot of people think, oh, now the US has access to everything. No, Where's the problem in this? And this is what we— I'm going to provide you the analysis about— is the timing of it. That is what is important about this. So, but first, let me say hi to everybody because I haven't talked to you for a few days. So I want to say hi. Timeline Dunkley from New York City, good to see you as always. You wrote, is that guy America's government new puppet? Of course, it goes without saying. Uh, Hong Luan, good to see you. Willie Holman, as always, truth seeker. Marcian Dorcia from Chicago, good to see you as always. Uh, David King, good to see you. Peng Yu, Hamad City, UTU, Z Super, as always. John Smith, uh, uh, good to see you. Matt Becky, here you are. Haven't seen you for a while, Matt. I hope all is well. Steve, good to see you from UK. You wrote, hi Dave, from UK, good to see you. Zenata Petroska, good to see you and hello to you as well. Wong KC and Gayatri Adarsh, good to see you. Uh, One Horn as always. Uh, AF Gordon, uh, uh, Corleone, good to see you and salaam to you as well from San Francisco. And Ned Rondo Uh, Abu Yusuf, good to see you as always. And Ezzin Wamadu from Nigeria, good to see you here. Uh-oh, what happened to my connection? So, all right guys, let's get into this. By the way, I need to share with you just briefly, if you— some housekeeping. Tomorrow, remember to join me at 11:30, uh, for my conversation with, with journalist SL Kanton. It will be an interesting, an interesting conversation. And Kantan, someone I know, I— he and I would communicate, uh, offline and all that, so I'm very familiar with his work. On Wednesday, I confirmed my interview with Dr. Mike Krupa from Poland, so, uh, I look forward to that conversation. Mike has an in-depth understanding of the history of that part of the world. Someone you truly want to listen to what he has to say. And I'm very, very excited because I always learn from him as well. So, so remember, tomorrow and Wednesday. And I am working on some other interviews for you guys, or discussions, or conversations, whatever way you want to call it. So, all right, let's get into our topic here. Well, we'll start with the key questions. And the key questions is regarding this development is what will Russia do now? And the reason I'm asking this question, because I asked the same question back in 2018, and I'll share it with you when I'll delve into the analysis, uh, of, of this particular topic. Uh, second question is, is an, an, is an open conflict, meaning military one, that is inevitable? You're looking at a cross the borders from Russia. This is where the US is going to have access to. So, and third question is This might sound to some as like, well, Dr. O, this is like what this— no, there is a link over there. What is the lesson for China? Remember the Taiwan issue, right? That's the one we are gonna be always, always trying to pin. Now we pushing Philippines. For now is the Philippines that is at the front. You don't hear much about Taiwan, even though we still moving forward with the allocation of weapons. To Taiwan, but you don't hear as much as what we have done to the Philippines, pushing them to the forefront now in really serious tensions with China. And why? Because they violated— they, Philippines in this case, violated its commitments to what is signed with the Chinese. So, and that's another topic for another day. Suffice it to say that those kind of questions we ought to ask for us to understand the really where this is headed. So, well, what happened basically here, just a, a brief, brief background before I'll delve deeper into this. What happened is that the Finnish, or Finland, the parliament in Finland, uh, which was a week ago, approved unanimously. Anytime you hear the term unan— I can't speak, uh, unanimously. Is that meaning that it's a fait accompli? There was no ifs and buts, and everybody had to toe the line, approve the defense pact. This is what it's known as, DCA, Defense Cooperation Agreement, DCA, pact with the United States, and by which now Finland will allow access to the United States of 15 of its military bases. Now here is where the key to all this— it's not about just the access, is the deployment of weapons. Now, will Finland know what type of weapons gonna be deployed there? What do you guys think? It's the same arguments I made for the Philippines when Philippines made the arrangements with the US to access, uh, an additional 5 bases, when in reality there were about 9 9 bases. The reason they're saying only 5, because the other 4 will have something that the Philippines wouldn't even know what's going to be in it. I'm seeing the same scenario here in the Philippines— I'm sorry, in Finland— and that is very, very problematic. So, and this is what I'm gonna be providing you, my own analysis in depth about it, because you need to understand the dynamics of this. Now we are getting Russia, right there on Russia's doorsteps. There is no way Russia would just sit and watch. I just, uh, it's mind-boggling that in Western leadership you will think there will be some cool heads that will prevail as far as the global security, as far as global cooperation, as far as global peace. Apparently not. So all this, the importance of it, why I wanted to do this topic for you guys because this one comes on the heels of 3 other major developments, and I am going to detail them for you once I'll talk about geography and a little bit of history of Finland. A lot of people do not know much about the, uh, this part of the world. So, and I happen to write about it, it's in my, in my Russia book. I detailed everything, uh, in, in that book. So let me share first of all some geography with you And I am going to put the map for you from World Atlas, to whom I give, uh, uh, credit to because that's where I usually get it. And we'll share the screen with you. World Atlas, here we go. So let me make this one big for you guys, and here we go. Full screen. Now, it's not very, very, very clear here, guys, but, uh, you, you'll see. There is one particular city called Oulu, almost the beginning of the spelling like my last name. Very, very interesting stuff. Anyway, Finland. Finland is a Northern European sovereign, sovereign nation. This is what they are saying. Now, the question to you When a country behaves like this, is it sovereign? Yes or no? Please answer that question, uh, whatever you feel about it. So in your opinion, a country that will open up 15 of its bases, is that country a sovereign state in your opinion? But anyway, the record here, the historical record and geographical record, indicate that Finland is a European sovereign nation. It is also one of the world's most northern and geo— geographically remote countries. Finland is positioned both in the northern and eastern hemispheres of the Earth. It is bordered by three nations: by Sweden in the northwest, by Russia in the east, and by Norway in the north. Finland is also bounded by the Gulf of Bothnia in the southwest and the Gulf of Finland in the south. It shares maritime borders with Estonia. I remember when I went to Helsinki, I had to cross through one of those, uh, uh, channels, if you will, between Stockholm and, and Helsinki. So that's when I went through. That was way back when I was in Helsinki, when Finland was Finland back then. So, so it changed. It changed completely. Gone, gone. That the whole northern states or northern Scandinavians, they're all gone. They're gone. Let me see your answer, guys, here. Uh, YT, good to see you, by the way. You say no. Hamad City, no. Athin Wu, you say no. Masi Anders, no. Uh, AF Godin, no, not anymore. Uh, uh, Al Talokan, puppet states. Uh, you guys got it. The Wacky Monkey, you say no. You guys got it. And to me, it appears It's, it's clear. There is no other way of wording it. I will say the same about Japan. I will say the same about South Korea, Australia, Philippines, New Zealand to a degree, Germany, Italy. You know, now you'll get Finland, and soon it's going to be some parts in Sweden and maybe Denmark, even though we do have a small presence. Same what we have in Netherlands. We do have a presence. I was in the military. I'm very familiar with the base A lot of people do not know. I can't go further into this. You all guys know the rules, the law, and so forth. But we do have a presence, and there is a particular base in the Netherlands a lot of people do not know about. So Finland is no different. Now let me get into a little bit of history because you need to know, and I'm gonna share some pictures with you guys that you need to see because it's very important. Uh, once again, the history of Finland is not a lot of people dig deeper into this to understand this. So I'm gonna be sharing pictures while I'm, uh, sharing some, uh, uh, narrative with you regarding— and I'll provide you of course two links. And this is not a Wikipedia stuff, this is academia. So you'll find it if you should— you, uh, I read it, it's, it's to my knowledge is, uh, spot on. There was only some wording here and there that is meant to sort of, uh, I don't like to go as far as saying manipulating in this case, but the wording will make a big dent or difference as far as how one understands. So what you're looking at here, uh, this is, uh, Turku. Turku is, uh, it's one known medieval city, uh, in Finland. It has a major university there. This is where the former president of Finland graduated from, Turku. This is a castle, and this one of Finland's oldest, oldest medieval castles, uh, castle that was, by the way, constructed in the 13th century and was completed in the 16th century. That's how long, uh, uh, this one goes. Uh, now when you think about the history of Finland you're gonna have to think about it in terms of, uh, uh, its relations to Sweden, okay? Because at one point they were only one back then. So this very, very, very, very different. And also you have to think about it in terms of the Russia back then. And this is why if you are to think about the history of Finland, you have to look at it in terms of, uh, uh, sort of like, uh, three aspects to it, uh, because there is more than meet the eye regarding the history of, uh, uh, Finland. So you're gonna have to go back, uh, uh, to, for example, uh, let me just make it simpler here for you to understand it. We'll divide, let's say, the history, and I'm not gonna dig deeper into all this because it's long. But suffice it to say that I'm going to tell you, think of, think of the history of Finland in 3 chapters. Okay, the first chapter has to do with, for example, the Swedish period that goes back to 1809. Okay, the second chapter about the history of Finland, think about it in terms of between 1809 and 1917, and what this one was, the Russian period. Inside Finland. And the third period, of course, goes in the independence from 1917 to present day. However, this is what I'm, I'm saying, uh, the history of Finland, we have to go back to the 12th— yeah, 12th century. Uh, uh, this is how far back you have to go to think about, uh, the, the local, the current geographical location of Finland was political vacuum back then. And interesting enough, its neighbors Sweden and the Catholic Church were there at that time. And you know, on its eastern border, they were Novgorod, which I wrote about in my Russia book, because those are the ancestors of the Russian speakers. And also there is one other aspect a lot of people do not consider. This one has to do with the Greek Orthodox Church, played a major role. This is why the Orthodox Church in Russia, it's very significant. A lot of people do not put these two, uh, to— together as far— or these three rather, uh, as far as, uh, uh, how important that is. So now it was a peace treaty that was signed in 1323 back then between Sweden and Novgorod. And this was, was signed in the eastern part of Finland. This is what's important about it. So when you look at it, the western side and the southern part of Finland were tied to Sweden at that time, and the western side of the European cultural sphere, while the eastern Finland, like for example the city of Kärliä became part of the Russo-Byzantine world. That's how far back it goes. Then you have now the reign of the Swedish, uh, uh, uh, uh, sort of domination at that time, where the Swedish legal system and the social system took roots in Finland. That's how far back. Why? Because feudalism— you're all familiar with it— was not part of the system of the Finnish uh, peasants were never serfs at that time. They always retained— this is one thing that is proven historically— they always retained their personal freedom. So Finland's most important centers was the town of Turku. That's why I said it's very, very important to understand this part. And founded in the middle of the 13th century, and was also the bishop's seat. In other words, headquarters for the bishop of, uh, in Finland at that time. Then comes the Reformation, and the Reformation era started with none other than Luther. You all remember, in early 16th century. And this is, uh, this Reformation reached Sweden and Finland, and the Catholic Church consequently lost out to the Lutheran faith. Politics plays a role into this, like today. You can't think of contemporary politics without taking into consideration the role religion plays behind the scenes. Now, for good or bad, it's to you, you decide. The only thing I can share with you from my own knowledge with the facts is that I was aware of the involvement of Paul John II You remember him from Poland, who was the Pope at that time, during the '80s, to topple the Soviet Union. Now you ask yourself, what is a, a man of religion has to do with politics? You decide. So, and this is why, just for you to understand, the Reformation that took place back then in 16th century set the stage for, and the rise also to the Finnish language. Finnish language sounds like— I'm gonna share something with you in Finnish language, uh, minä rakastasinua. That's how it sounds, the, the Finnish language. It's, it's a very combination, Slavic's involved. Uh, if you know, if you, if you read anything about the Vikings, you will understand a little bit of it. Now what's important also about this era is that the New Testament was translated into Finnish in 1548. And we all know what happened with the translation, right? And who translated it? None other than the Bishop of Turku. His name was Michael Agricola, and it was done between 1510 and 1557. So, and he's the one who brought the Reformation to Finland and created the written Finnish language. You know, then the entire Bible at that time appeared in Finnish language, in Finnish language, in 1642. Fast forward to Finland and the Grand Duchy of Russia. This is once again, we moving into the 18th century. It's very, very important to understand those dynamics. Here is why: because Sweden lost its position as a great power in the early 18th century. And I have a picture here of the old Helsinki. I remember this when I visited. Of course, didn't look like what it is today. Uh, right here, this is a picture of Helsinki. This is Helsinki in the late 19th century. Of course, when I visited, which was in the '80s, it's modern day, uh, like, like what you're seeing today. So, so what happened is that Russian pressure on Finland increased And Russia conquered Finland between 1808 and 1809, war with Sweden. I, I detail this in my book because I put the whole, uh, chapter about the history of Russia. But of course, you can't talk about the history of Russia without addressing Finland and Sweden back then. And as a matter of fact, that book, the Russia book uh, if I am recalling. If you look at the back, uh, one of the endorsements was from a friend of mine who happens to be the US Ambassador, former US Ambassador to Sweden. So he's the one who endorsed this book here. So it's in the back, the Honorable, uh, uh, Olson, that's his name, the Ambassador. You can look him up. So what happened at that time? So the idea of that during the Swedish period Finland was merely a group of provinces and not a national unity. This is why when you visit Finland, you will notice one thing: a lot of islands. A lot. You're looking over 5, 6, even 8,000 islands, small ones, that is. So it was governed from Stockholm, which is the capital of Sweden, the capital of Finnish provinces at that time. Helsinki wasn't the capital. It was Stockholm at that time, but when Finland was joined to Russia in 1809, it became an autonomous Grand Duchy. So the Grand Duke was the Russian Emperor, who represented— whose representative in Finland was the Governor General. And this is that picture you're looking at of the Helsinki from 1846 through 1919. So Finland highest governed body was the Senate. And I'm not gonna get into the political structure because again, it's so long. I'm gonna put the link for you. Suffice it that you need to understand that it was Alexander II, uh, who issued the decree in 1863, marked the beginning of the process of the Finnish language that became official. So fast forward to 1917, What happened there? What year did Finland gain its independence? Does anybody know? Guys, type in, in the chat box please, if you happen to know. Francis Tango, I agree with you, Finland is beautiful country. The country is, but now the system is ruined. So what year did Finland gain its independence? Does anybody know? Uh, World War I, somewhere around that time. You guys Francis Tango, 1999. No, no, no, it was before that, way, way, way, way before. Uh, it was in, uh, 1917, because during 1917, which was exactly on December 6th, that's when the parliament approved the Declaration of Independence drawn up by the Senate under the leadership of Sivin Fad, which was between 1861 to 1944. That's when he was ruling the, uh, the country at that time. Let me see if I have another picture for you. Oh yeah, this one. You know, I'm gonna move into this quickly here and jump into, uh, you know, fast forward to independence, uh, of course during the '20s, uh, all the way through, uh, because Finland pursued the foreign policy at that time based on cooperation with Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Uh, this is why those countries were sort of the Eastern Bloc, but especially Finland and Sweden, because Sweden signed the treaty with Russia at that time for neutrality, and that's why they broke it now when they joined NATO. So, uh, what you're looking at, the picture, that's the— in a winter, uh, war, because it was during winter, Finland stood alone. Other countries offered only sympathy and modest assistance. And this is, this is the Finnish ski troops. Those are— and they got into fierce fights with the Russians, as a matter of fact. And Finland, believe it or not, survived against overwhelming Russian forces. Uh, 1939, this is when Germany and the Soviet Union signed non-aggression pact, which included a secret protocol relegating Finland to the Soviet sphere of interest. When Finland refused to allow the Soviet Union to build military bases on its territory, the latter revoked the non-aggression pact of 1932 and attacked Finland on November 30th, 1939. That's what's known as the Winter War. Uh, fast forward, when Germany invaded Soviet Union summer of 1941, Finland entered the war as a co-belligerent with Germany. It's just about interest, that's all it is. So, uh, fast forward— and again, I'm briefing this— fast forward to the recent history. I'll take you to 1987. Why? Because that one marked a turning point in the government when the conservative National Coalition Party and Social Democrats formed the majority government and retained power till 1991. And the rest is history, as we say. So, so, and I'm going to provide you, uh, two links, guys, from academia regarding the history of Finland. Should you decide to read it, you'll find it very, very interesting. So, all right, let's get into our conversation here about Finland. So now, uh, I'm going to show you a picture of the current president. This is the former president, by the way. Uh, his name is, uh, Soli, uh, Vinamo Ninisto. They pronounced him differently. So it was, uh, he was the president from, uh, 2012 to 2024. It was the 12th president. Uh, he's a lawyer by trade, education, but he's weak leader politically speaking on the domestic, on the global front. Uh, he's subservient to the US. Uh, it is the truth. Most of the European leaders nowadays— excuse me— most of the Western leaders, including now the new Prime Minister of England, who is another subservient, another incompetent. Germany, France, Italy, you got the idea, guys. He's no different. Uh, now the new guy, uh, this one right here who served as a, uh, uh, I think he was the, uh, foreign minister or something like that, then he became— his name is Alexander Stubb. So he was sworn in on March 1st as the new Finland president, and here is what he says. First, he said that the country is facing a new era. Of course, after becoming a NATO member, something he will demonstrate by making his first foreign trip to inspect the military alliance drill in neighboring Norway Arctic region. Well, you get the idea, you know, he's gonna have to follow to the line based on what the US dictate. So, but like I asked at the beginning, the question is, what will Russia do now? Because here is the concern for me about this access to the bases. We will be deploying some weapons that the Finnish government might not even know. I know how it works because I was inside Washington. That's how we do it. We are not going to disclose to the host country what kind of weapons we're going to be bringing. Heck, we could even create tensions inadvertently or intentionally. And I am going to be keeping an eye to see what Finland— what Russia is going to be doing, because Russia did say something back in 2018, and I'm going to disclose it for you. Then we'll see, because like I always say, words tends to turn into policies. So leaders will have to be very careful as far as what they say, because, because in, in global politics, that's how it works. This is why you notice how the Chinese are very methodical. They don't, they don't react emotionally. That is for a reason, because they're always keeping one foot back just in case. And it's perfect, makes perfect, uh, sense. Now, my own analysis suggests this on— because this, all this development comes on the heel of three main events. I'll start with the first one, is the upcoming NATO summit, which is going to be in 3 days from today, uh, or 2 days actually, starting tomorrow if I'm not mistaken, from the 9th through the 12th to 13th in Washington, DC. This is very, very important because NATO is going to be celebrating its 75th anniversary. Well, 75th or, or 80th, whatever, it's— to me it's irrelevant because NATO itself is irrelevant. The whole reason for why NATO was established is— ceased to exist as far as the Soviet Union. Begs the question, what is the purpose of NATO Today, uh, the summit, by the way, starts tomorrow, so from the 9th through the 11th. And of course, I will be keeping an eye as far as the final communique, even though I got an idea already, and I can confirm it with my own contacts in Washington as to what the final communique is going to include. And my, my word, it's going to be mentioning China as the next target, because that's what it's going to be. So you think about NATO, who's in charge of NATO? It's the US, of course. Why? Because the US is the most powerful member in it, but also because we spend so much on defense and the budget of NATO. So when you spend so much on a, on a defense budget, you got to dictate the policy. That's why Finland and Sweden and Germany, Italy, they have no say. France, UK, they have no say. Greek, uh, Greece, uh, Montenegro, even Hungary itself, which to me now Hungary is finding itself in an awkward position. And I'm not saying they should just leave, uh, because you can't just do that. Again, in global geopolitics, you can react emotionally, you have to think. And when you are a head of state, you have to think about the welfare of your people first. Before your own legacy and, and all that stuff. Sadly, in the West, they don't think in those terms. So, and of course, the important thing about this upcoming summit, NATO, is you're going to see the new Secretary of NATO. Just meet the new boss as the old boss. He has to toe the line as well. My— his name is Matt— uh, what's his name? Uh, uh, Mark, Mark Rutte from Eng— from, uh, Netherlands. They're just another incompetent. I don't, I don't shy away from saying this. Second thing we need to think about, as I said, three main event, events that some of them occurred, some of them are occurring today, and some of them will occur soon, like the NATO summit. The second thing has to do with Orbán's trip to Moscow despite the EU sort of being mad at him for doing so. Why is this important? Because Orbán, Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister, went to Russia to discuss prospects for a peaceful settlement with Ukraine. Of course, after he went to Ukraine, he did visit Ukraine, and I'm going to show you a picture and I'll let you comment on it. Check it out. Like we always say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So it, it's one for the pay— for the history books, guys. This will never get old. You know, he's probably thinking, why do I have to shake this comedian's hand? You know, that, that's just interesting. But anyway, he went to Ukraine, and right after that, he had an audience with the Russian president Vladimir Putin. So you think about it in terms of the second event here. Why? It's because Hungary now took over the presidency regarding the EU. So they're gonna drive the agenda. So, and to me, because he's pushing here, Orbán in this case, he's pushing for the idea of ensuring maybe— not maybe, but peace is better for all parties involved. So, and this is where that idea of, uh, uh, the third element comes in. The third element has to do with China. Why is this important? Because today Orbán made an announced visit to China. I'm sure the Chinese government knew about it. It's just they never disclosed it. He is currently in Beijing meeting with President Xi. And one of the key things that I need you to understand is that China now is calling for a direct talk between, uh, uh, Ukraine and Russia. What is interesting and manipulative on part of the West is that most of the media— and I looked at all the articles I not— I read them all. I looked at the titles. All of them, all of them, no exception, they are all saying— and I'm gonna pull it up for you to see with your own eyes, guys, because I need you to see this one. China calls on Western powers for Ukraine. So I'm going to show you one title and I'll read up the rest of them for you. And that's, to me, is no coincidence, guys. Even though China is calling for Ukraine and Russia for direct talks, the Western media is, is manipulating that. All right, where's the picture? Here, here is what it says. China's Xi calls on world powers to help Russia and Ukraine resume direct dialogue. And I'm going to just read some other ones. It says from AP, uh, Associated Press, China's call for patience as Communist parties try to reverse direction. China's latest attempt to call Western power for Ukraine for peace. Uh, uh, China's she call world powers to help Russia and Ukraine. Uh, the next one, it says China's, uh, China's support for Russia. Not this one here. China calls for ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia through Western powers. So, so you just manipulating. That's the bottom line. What I wanted to say to you, what I wanted to disclose to you, is that China is calling for direct talk between Ukraine and Russia. The Western media is sort of manipulating this by saying, oh, China is reaching out to the Western world, Western powers, sort of to allow That means— no, that— what does it mean, guys? It means that we— that even China has to ask Western powers help with this, when in reality it didn't. What China did was asking directly for Ukraine and Russia for direct talks. That is what I found very important about those three developments that is taking place regarding, uh, uh, regarding the, uh, what the United States now is going to have access to Finland. Because you have to put this within that context of what does it mean moving forward. So, so when you think about it, because Finland and Russia shares a long border of about 830 miles or about 1,430 kilometers border. It is a long one. So, and Russia, uh, Russia has already moved some heavy weapons. They didn't disclose what type. If I am to guess, that will be tactical nukes, but that's just my guess because it will make perfect sense. And, uh, with now the US moving in with its own weapons, it's just going to make, uh, uh, uh very, very problematic. Uh, Sweden already did this on June 18th, uh, about the DCA, the Defense, uh, uh, Cooperation Agreement. And that is what, what, what now is going to tip the balance towards what are we going to be seeing coming next. It's very, very problematic. So, and this is why Orbán, Orbán is thinking about how can we prevent catastrophe from happening for the sake of the world. That is why he's traveling. He went to Russia and now he's in China all the way. And he's not like trying to convince China to talk to Russia. No, no, no, no, no. He just had to illustrate and highlight the importance. And this is why China issued that statement: Ukraine cannot do anything on its own. Let me just say straightforward, Ukraine is paralyzed, one. Second, Ukraine has to toe the line based on our dictates. They can't. The comedian Z is, is beyond repair. I mean, for the sake of democracy, he went ahead and canceled all the elections. Are you going to call this a democracy? Let's just be honest about it, it is not. So, and it's a failed state anyway. So, so let me share with you my own insights based on what I— the research that I did for a few years back then. And again, I go back to what I disclosed in my Russia book, uh, and I had to spend, uh, uh, uh, sort of, uh, few pages just to put this in perspective, uh, for the readers to understand. So of course, back then I argued that the geopolitical landscape of today differs from what it was in the past, and rightly so, because even back then, and still applies to today, Russia had to think in terms of security, in terms of economics, in terms of sphere of influence. I mean Uh, have you heard, guys, that now the World Bank is saying that the economy of Russia is doing far better? And by the way, I will be talking about this, uh, on the other channel on Thursday with detail about the economic aspects of it. Uh, but to Russia, like I argued back then, Russia had to think about what's called near abroad. It's always known near abroad, which means what? This is the Nordic area, the, uh, the, uh, the eastern part, neighboring, uh, countries near Russia's border. And, uh, Russia has always played an influence— an influential role, rather, back then. So, so, and this is where it becomes problematic for Russia, like I disclosed in the book. I disclosed that in 2018 I even had the date for it exactly, because, you know, when you write a book, you can't just, uh, you're gonna have to document all your sources and all your research and all. Otherwise, where is the credibility? So it was in July 24, 2018, that Russia stated— the Kremlin stated at that time— that Russia will take responsive measures if Finland and Sweden join NATO. That was 2018. So issuing a warning sends a message to the West, right? That is correct, and the entire region for that matter, that Russia will not tolerate any future advances by the West near its borders. However, was Russia sure of what it was saying back then? Because now it becomes the credibility of Russia. You are— you, Russia, in this case, you will issue responsive measures. Where are they? Finland and Sweden already became a member, and now you have the US getting so close to Russia's border with weapons. That Finland will have no control over. So, so, and this is where I argued back then, thinking in the future what will happen if Finland and Sweden end up being in NATO, even though Sweden in this case— and I'm familiar with it because I disclosed this in, in the history aspects of it, of my book— that they signed the Treaty of Neutrality. Finland was doing fine for the last 50, 60 years with the Soviet Union and even Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was no issue there. So, and this is where that idea of, uh, when, when Russia took over Crimea and defeated the forces of Georgia at that time The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, you know, he sort of— because he made the mistake of sending the troops to the rebellious province of South Ossetia. That's what— because South Ossetia was mainly Russian-speaking constituents there. So Russia end up defeating South Ossetia by deploying troops, of course. But within 5 days, Russia defeated the Georgian army. Because there were no NATO there at that time. And why am I highlighting all this? As I argued, I highlight this because the incident that Saakashvili's recent statement at that time when he said, and I quote back then, that Russia most likely target is the near future, in the near future, is either Finland or Sweden. Of course, back then I argued No, Russia will have no incentive, geopolitical one that is, to target Finland or Sweden unless they became a NATO member or allowed the deployment of advanced weapons. So Russia most likely targets in the near future, like what Shekashvili said. So, and this to me raised at that time serious concern about Shekashvili's judgment. No, of course I disagreed with that at that time. So targeting Sweden or Finland, ah, at this time, or at that time when I wrote the book, was make no geopolitical sense whatsoever in my opinion. So because his analysis was flawed, simple as that. So now the question now is different. Now you have an agreement. Anytime you sign an agreement, you are bound by its— and of course, with the US, you have no other alternative. You better not sign to begin with. This is why Philippines can go out of it, Japan can go out of it, South Korea can go out of it. Australia sucked in, and now Sweden and Finland sucked in into the orbit of NATO. That is where part of the problem— my big concern is that we, we are inching closer to an open conflict between Russia and the US. And you know what? It's not the US troops that's going to be doing the heavy lifting, it's the, the so-called allies. We're gonna put Finnish troops in line first, the Swedish, the NATO members, the likes of Germans, Greeks, Montenegro, UK. UK can't fight anyway. This is where it's going to be the major problem that's going to be now regarding these aspects of it, and it's not going to bode well. Finland, it's already embarked on a wrong policy. The moment they decide to join NATO, they became a target. And if there is an open conflict, which I hope it doesn't happen, I hope I am wrong, you're gonna have the first countries in the region— Finland, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Norway— those gonna be the first taken out. Then you're moving to Europe. For us, we are far out. But even with that, we're not going to be spared. We have nothing against the hypersonic that the Russians developed. Makes the, the, the, the matter even more concerning if the Russians decide, you know what, we're gonna move our nukes to Cuba and Venezuela. What can we do? Nothing. We're gonna scream bloody loud, oh, we don't want you to do this here, whatever. Well, wait a minute, what makes you— what makes it right for you to do it near our borders and it's wrong for us to do it? This is where that difference is going to be. And I am very, very concerned about where this is going. And that's why I am hoping, I am hoping there will be someone when I see someone regarding in a higher-ups with some cool head, with some common sense to think about the welfare of humanity. This is not about one single country, it's about the welfare of humanity entirely, regardless of who you are, regardless of where you came from, or regardless of what your country is, whatever, for the sake of humanity. Because if that open conflict sort of, uh, uh, ensues, we done for. The massive amount of destruction that's gonna— nothing, nothing will save us from that. And I hope it never gets to that. I hope it never gets to that. But we are pushing, we pushing beyond, and somebody has to step in and say enough is enough. You are now hearing it from average people, average citizens. That was one of these conversations with the panel I joined last time, and, and, and they, they are intending on doing more of those discussions, and I'll be happy to contribute my own just for the sake of our— for the whole world, for that matter. So that's what I'm hoping to do. All right guys, I'm gonna wrap this up just, and I'll answer some of your questions. Suffice it to say, now we are moving into very, very inching closer to a more confrontational stance by deploy— by deploying certain type weapons that even the Finnish government will never know about. And we're not going to share that, and we don't share that with countries when we send certain type of weapons. We can even, we can even do it in terms of testing new weapons. You know, why not? We— the thinking in, in the Pentagon goes like this: why not just use that country? It's dispensable, as they said. Parts. So, so let's hope, uh, to me it's done deal. They signed on this last week. Uh, once you sign into agreement, you have— that's it, you bound by it. I don't know what the terms for, uh, for that agreement. I didn't read the details, the legality of it. All I know is that once you enter into agreement with the United States, uh, you know, you sign your, your, your, your death warrant basically. We don't have a good history regarding honoring our agreements and so forth. So, and, and, and again, I speak not on, on behalf of Americans, it's the government. And you all know it's unfortunate, it's unfortunate. All right guys, let me check out one, uh, just to remind you once again, uh, tomorrow join me at 11:30 and on Wednesday at 12:30. I'll have tomorrow my conversation with journalist SL Kanton and on Wednesday at 12:30 my conversation with Dr. Mike, Krupa from Poland. I look forward to both conversations. So, uh, as always, it goes without saying, for your continued support for the channel, I'm very grateful. I am very thankful to you. Uh, by the way, one of you guys bought me a coffee yesterday and asked me— he couldn't find— he wanted to purchase the book, uh, uh, my Russia book Uh, I don't have it uploaded because of the legality of the contract. I have to reach out to, uh, their legal departments and request a copy of the copyrights. And, uh, if, if it is granted or reversed to me, because there is a time frame when I signed the— I think time frame is 4 years. So, and I think it ends this year, I just don't know what date. So I need to find out. So legally I am bound by— I can upload this, uh, to you. Of course, uh, the publisher has the book for about $130. I'm not gonna— usually I do books for $15, $20. That's it. So just to cover the cost for the, the platform and all that stuff, uh, but legally I can't do that yet. So once, once that's resolved, I'll upload it right away. Uh, and speaking of books, to those I already uploaded this one here. I uploaded this one here, and soon I will be uploading the volatile state around in the nuclear age. So, uh, for those who already purchased the book, if you want to purchase a copy, you can go to this link. It's on Buy Me a Coffee. You go to extras, that's where you click on the link there, or click on this one, and it gives you the options to upload the link. And I think I have them for like $10 or something like that, $5 for the members should you decide to do that. So, and for Buy Me a Coffee, this one here, I'm very grateful to all of you. All right, let me take a look at some questions here, guys. And, uh, A, not a question but statement. David Oualaalou, there are no leaders in Europe now. Those so-called leaders are only puppets installed by the US. The European leaders are just a sham. Yeah, you're right. There's no other way of saying it. It's the truth. It is the truth. Uh, let me see a question from you guys. Uh, Francis Tango, question: will NATO continue to exist as long as Russia exists? Or let NATO place an army everywhere in the world? Interesting question, interesting question for the fact that now it's not about just Russia, and Russia will always exist, by the way. You know, this is something we don't know about the history of Russia, because you have to go back to 1002 or 1003 when the history of Russia started, way back. It was never cease to exist. It's an ancient, uh, history, and it will always exist. It's not about whether Russia— like, like what you put in the question, as long as Russia exists. No, as long as the threat that NATO is promoting can be alternate to China, for example, which what we are doing now, because we are trying to shift. We already sucked in Europe into buying this. What we are trying to do now is suck in Asian nations, the likes of Philippines, the weak links, you know, India buying into that and all that. That's what it's going to be. So NATO will always exist. The only way it will not exist, if we, for example, uh, because you all know, hypothetically, should Trump wins the elections, one of the first order of business, he wants to dismantle NATO, which is wishful thinking. Ain't gonna happen, I'll tell you this. Ain't gonna happen. No matter what you hear Trump saying, Trump is a showman. No, he doesn't understand the depth of how far and how deep, uh, the organization goes. They are behind forces that he can deal with, he can control, and they'll take him out if they have to. That's just how it works. So NATO will always be there because there's always justification. You create more tensions. That was the whole reason for the creation of NATO. Wasn't about just the Soviet Union or communism, is to ensure the continuation of conflicts. That's, that's what it's going to be. So, and, and, and I'm going to be looking at the final communiqué for the upcoming summit, and, and I'll share it with you once I read it and, and see. I bet you China's going to be mentioned there. No, no doubt about it. All right, let me see another question. Uh, a question from Hong Wan. Question: I heard that India hasn't attended the SCO. Uh, of course. Uh, how will this impact India's place in the SCO, and will India pull the same stance in the BRICS summit. Interesting. Well, you heard right. When I say India didn't attend, you mean Prime Minister Modi didn't attend, but India delegation did attend, uh, headed by the Foreign Affairs Minister Jaishankar. That's what it was. Now, uh, it was irrelevant whether Modi, Prime Minister, attended or not. It was irrelevant. Modi was concerned that he will be overshadowed by the presence of Russia and and China, because remember, Putin and Xi met together, uh, as a summit within the summit itself. So, uh, and second thing, uh, and I heard this, I can't confirm it, but I just heard it, that the president of Kazakhstan wasn't willing to go to the airport to meet him. Uh, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know about this, but it's irrelevant. Uh, what's important is that my thinking knowing how these things work, uh, to avoid being overshadowed, they decided not to go altogether. But, uh, India's place in SCO is just another dead weight. That's how I always say it. Till India fix its home first, they can do whatever, ain't gonna work. Now, I do know there are medias inside India that is pushing this narrative about the greatness of India, how India is going to ascend to the global supremacy. And it's nonsense. I would like to invite those individuals right here, and we'll have an honest and open and civil debate if they are willing to come in to my channel here. So, and I'll invite Jayant Bhandari, and I'll invite SL Kantaan, and we'll have an open discussion. Because what they are doing, those individuals that they are promoting this fallacy about India supremacy, is not allowing India to move forward by looking inward. This is what India is avoiding. It's avoiding to look inward as far as the infra— the crumbling infrastructure, as far as the corruption, as far as, uh, unemployment, as far as the— a lot of domestic issue, ethnic tensions, and so forth. Till India fix that, its role in blocks like SCO, like BRICS, it just has no weight whatsoever, uh, because BRICS or SCO still can move on with or without India. Simple as that. So it will not be missed if it doesn't attend, and it's not like the— those economic blocks will not move forward. So that, that's the way I see it. All right, one last question, uh, from M. White. Who can China contact in the West for peace talks in Ukraine and Russia negotiations? The US trying to sort out this own presidential issues? Is Orbán speaking on behalf of the West on NATO? No, no. No, Orbán is going despite the objection of the West. He doesn't care. Well, he doesn't care because he doesn't care about what they think, but he cares about what lies ahead if a war breaks out, right? Remember the history of Hungary, the Austro-Hungarian, Hungarian. They played a major role in shaping Eastern Europe. You know, it's, uh, Hungary is thinking in terms of long-term strategic thinking. So as to China reaching the West, no. China already proposed the 12 points for peace plan. We rejected it from the get-go. It's because we won't want to— we won't want to admit or like that initiative is coming from China, not a Western country. That's why we always going to be sabotaging any effort from outside. Well, and who's gonna get harmed in the, in the, in the process? Ukraine. Ukraine is done for. Ukraine is, is, is failed state. Yeah, that's all it is. So, and if we keep pushing, pushing, pushing, at some point Russians gonna say, you know what, we've had it. And we are getting closer to that. That is where my concern is. By now, having this access to 15 bases in Finland. It's, it's a, it's what I see over the horizon is not pretty, is not pretty. And the idea of now NATO, uh, summit, it's coming tomorrow, uh, they're going to be pivoting, targeting. Now we know where Ukraine is, Ukraine can't move an inch, we're going to now focus on Asia. Let's stir trouble in that part of the world. It behooves Asian nations now to take a unified stance. But can they? I don't know. I don't know. I hope they do, because the outcome would not be good. So, all right guys, I'm gonna sign off here. Once again, appreciate you being here, uh, thank you for keeping the conversation civil here, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 11:30. As always, remember geopolitics impacts your daily life in more ways than one. Till next time, guys. Bye-bye.