By Nsikak Nseyen Russian President Vladimir Putin, says the Kremlin is not threatened by Finland and Sweden joining NATO. NAN ...
By Nsikak Nseyen
Russian President Vladimir Putin, says the Kremlin is not
threatened by Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
NAN reports that Putin said Russia will take military
countermeasures.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to Turkmenistan, he
said, “There is nothing to worry us in terms of Swedish and Finnish membership
of NATO.’’
He rather threatened that both countries should be prepared
for a Russian reaction.
“They must clearly understand that previously there were no
threats to them, but if troops were stationed there and infrastructure
established, we will have to respond accordingly.
“And they will also make the same threats to the territory
from where threats to us are coming,’’ he said, according to the Russian TASS
news agency.
“Everything is good between us, but now there will be some
tension, that is obvious and there is no doubt about that, it can’t go any
other way,’’ Putin said.
Russia had earlier threatened that there would be
consequences after it first learnt of Finland and Sweden’s plans to join NATO.
The two countries decided to abandon decades of neutrality
and join the defence alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The membership process was initiated at the NATO summit in
Madrid on Wednesday.
The expansion of the defence alliance would extend its land
border with Russia by more than 1,300 kilometres.
Putin stressed that Finland and Sweden joining NATO would be
quite different to Ukraine being granted membership.
It denied that Russia had triggered Finland and Sweden’s
volte-face on NATO membership through its vehement opposition to Ukraine’s own
plans to join the alliance.
Putin accused the West of trying to turn Ukraine into an
anti-Russia that it would use to destabilise Russia and attack its culture.
“That would not be the case with Finland and Sweden,” he
added.
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