Sweden, Finland joins NATO in a “destabilizing” move, says Russian minister – National
Russia sees Sweden’s and Finland’s plans to join NATO as a destabilizing move, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Wednesday as the two countries appeared ready to join the alliance on a fast track.
“We believe that the enlargement of the North Atlantic Alliance is a purely destabilizing factor in international affairs. It does not add security either to those who expand it, those who join it or to other countries that perceive the alliance as a threat,” the news agency quoted Interfax Ryabkov.
Finland and Sweden announced tenders to join NATO in May, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for their decision to abandon decades of foreign policy neutrality.
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Further NATO expansion up to Russia’s borders was the very result that Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted to prevent by launching the invasion he calls Moscow’s special military operation “in Ukraine on February 24.
But Russia has sent mixed signals about the risks to its security from Finnish and Swedish entry.
In May, Putin said: “In terms of enlargement, Russia has no problems with these states – none. And so in this sense, there is no immediate threat to Russia from an expansion (by NATO) to include these countries.”
NATO member Turkey initially threatened to block the accession of Finland and Sweden, citing what was called Sweden’s support for Kurdish militants and its ban on the export of certain types of weapons to Turkey.
However, Turkey dropped its objections to the two countries’ NATO applications on Tuesday when the alliance began a three-day summit in Madrid.