Sweden to pursue NATO membership, Russia's military bogged down in Eastern Ukraine

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced Monday that Sweden will join Finland in seeking NATO membership in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The historic shift, which comes after more than 200 years of military nonalignment in the Nordic country, is likely to upset the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Finland announced Sunday that it was seeking to join the alliance, saying Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly three months ago had changed Europe's security landscape. Several hours later, Sweden's governing party endorsed a bid for membership, which could lead to an application in days.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada is in favour of a "quick accession" for both countries ahead of meeting in Brussels with the European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell.

 "Our goal is to be among the first countries to be able to ratify the accession of Sweden and Finland," said Joly. That process in the past has taken eight months to a year.

Those moves would be a serious blow to Putin, who has called NATO's post-Cold War expansion in Eastern Europe a threat and cited it as a reason for attacking Ukraine. NATO says it is a purely defensive alliance.

WATCH | Ex-PM of Finland Alexander Stubb on the push to join NATO:

Countries nearby worry they could be next after Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre land border and the Gulf of Finland with Russia. Putin told Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in a Saturday phone call that joining NATO would be an "error."

Sweden's parliament on Monday debated the NATO question after the ruling Social Democratic Party broke its party's longstanding position that Sweden must remain nonaligned and endorsed a plan to do so. 

"Sweden needs formal security guarantees that come with membership in NATO," Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said during the parliamentary debate, adding that the country was acting together with neighbouring Finland.

Andersson said Sweden would refuse nuclear weapons or permanent NATO bases on its soil — similar conditions as neighbouring Norway and Denmark insisted on when the alliance was formed after the Second World War.

Putin warned the West on Monday that Russia would respond if NATO began to bolster the military infrastructure of Sweden and Finland.

Speaking to the leaders of a Russian-dominated military alliance of former Soviet states, Putin said the enlargement of NATO was being used by the United States in an "aggressive" way to aggravate an already difficult global security situation.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, meeting with top diplomats from the alliance in Berlin, said the war "is not going as Moscow had planned."