Moscow warns that Russia would be threatened by Finland’s joining NATO. It will also make the world less secure.
Moscow has warned that Finland joining NATO would pose a direct threat to Russia’s security and its acceptance to the military alliance would prompt Russia to develop measures to ensure its safety. That’s after Finnish officials confirmed on Thursday their commitment to join the US-led bloc and announced plans to pen a formal application later this week.
“There is a current instruction from the president to develop a list of measures to strengthen our western flanks in connection with the strengthening of NATO’s eastern flanks,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov during a daily press briefing on Thursday, adding that the expansion of NATO towards Russia’s borders will not make the world or the Eurasian continent any more secure.
He added that Russia regrets Finland’s decision to join the hostile steps taken by the EU and warned that Helsinki’s attempts to join NATO would serve as a reason to develop respective mirror responses.
After leaders from Finland announced Thursday their commitment to seeking membership in the US-led Military bloc, this statement was made. The Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marina and President Sauli Niinisto expressed their views. “as a member of NATO, Finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance,”Add that to their country “must apply for NATO membership without delay”.
NATO claims to be a purely defensive organization, but Russia, which shares a 1,340km (833-mile) land border with Finland, perceives the bloc’s expansion as a threat to its national security.
Last month, the former Russian president and prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of the country’s Security Council implied that if Finland and Sweden became members of NATO, Russia might be forced to deploy nuclear weapons to the Baltic region in order to preserve “the balance of power.”
Share this story via social media
[ad_2]
