Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that his country would respond equally if the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) deployed troops to Finland and Sweden.
Putin’s position came in response to a formal NATO invitation to Sweden and Finland to join the alliance on Wednesday, following the announcement by the Turkish presidency of Finland and Sweden’s candidacy for NATO membership and the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the two countries.
“Like Ukraine, we do not have problems with Sweden and Finland and we do not have a border dispute,” Putin said.
“If Finland and Sweden want to join NATO, it depends on them and they can join whatever they want,” he added.
Putin warned that if military units were deployed there, his country would have to react in a similar way and pose the same threats to the areas where the threats were made.
On the other hand, the Russian president said that his country is open to talks on strategic stability, maintaining non-proliferation regimes and improving the situation in the field of arms control.
Speaking at a legal conference in his hometown of St. Petersburg, he said the effort required “hard work together” and was aimed at preventing a repeat of “what is happening in Donbass today.” Moscow entered Ukraine to protect Russian-born people from persecution.
Commenting on NATO’s invitation to Finland and Sweden to join the alliance, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said: “We condemn the irresponsible path of NATO, the structure of Europe or what remains of it.”
“I have doubts about whether the future will be calm for our northern European neighbors,” he said.
Russia has previously warned Finland and Sweden against joining NATO, saying it would have “serious military and political consequences” that would force them to “restore military balance” by strengthening their defenses in the Baltic Sea region. , Including the deployment of nuclear weapons. .
The 32nd NATO Summit, currently being held in the Spanish capital Madrid, concludes today, defining the coalition’s new strategic vision and identifying Moscow as its main adversary.
Source: Lebanon Debate
