President Vladimir Putin says that Russia is not threatened by Finland and Sweden joining NATO, but that Russia will take military countermeasures.
“There is nothing to worry about when it comes to Swedish and Finnish membership of NATO,” Putin explained during a visit to Turkmenistan. “They must clearly understand that in the past there were no threats against them. But if troops were stationed there and infrastructure was established, we must react accordingly. And they will also make the same threat to the territory from which the threats against us come.”
He added, “Everything is fine between us. But now there will be some tension. It is obvious and there is no doubt about it; there can be no other way.”
Russia had previously threatened that it would have consequences after first becoming aware of Finland’s and Sweden’s plans to join NATO.
The two countries decided to abandon decades of neutrality and joined the defense alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The membership process began at the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday.
The expansion of the defense alliance would extend its land border with Russia by more than 1,300 kilometers.
Putin stressed that Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to NATO would be completely different from Ukraine’s membership.
It denied that Russia had triggered the face of Finland and Sweden against NATO membership through its fierce opposition to Ukraine’s own plans to join the alliance.
Putin accused the Western world of trying to make Ukraine an anti-Russia that they would use to destabilize Russia and attack its culture.
“That would not be the case with Finland and Sweden,” said the Russian president.
(dpa / NAN)