> Russia is powerless to stop this, since any attack on a NATO country would likely trigger a counterattack.
This is a game of “who blinks first”. I doubt normally US would use nukes to defend a tiny unimportant country like Latvia or Slovenia, if under attack. Russia knows this too.
Russia is powerless to stop this, since any attack on a NATO country would likely trigger a counterattack.
Hence, instead, Russia must prevent these countries joining if they want to ensure no nukes on their border.