FINLAND AND SWEDEN JOINING NATO IS A MISTAKE THAT HAS ‘FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES’, SAYS RUSSIA

Mon 16 May 2022:

Russia said on Monday that the West should not expect Moscow to simply accept the Nordic expansion of the US-led NATO military alliance to include Sweden and Finland, calling the move a mistake that will exacerbate military tensions.

No one should have any illusions that Russia will simply put up with the decisions of Sweden and Finland to join NATO, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday.

“They (NATO member states) should not have any illusions that we will simply put up with this … That means that the general level of military tension will increase, and there will be less predictability in this area.

Since the last day of 1999, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s supreme leader, has repeatedly highlighted NATO’s post-Soviet enlargement eastwards into Russia’s borders as a rationale for the invasion of Ukraine.

The battle, on the other hand, has sparked one of the most significant transformations in Europe’s security architecture in decades: Sweden and Finland, which share a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia, joining the military alliance.

It is a pity that common sense is sacrificed to some phantom ideas about what should be done in this situation,” Ryabkov told reporters.

Moscow’s reaction to the Nordic countries’ accession to the alliance will depend on concrete steps by Helsinki and Stockholm, the diplomat added.

“This is another serious mistake with far-reaching consequences … This is the level of those who make political decisions today in the respective countries,” he said.

Moscow To Strengthen Its Troops On Border With Finland

Moscow will strengthen its military presence on the Russian-Finnish border in the event of Helsinki joining NATO and the alliance deploying striking weapons on its territory, Viktor Bondarev, the chair of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, said Sunday.

“We will strengthen the border, increase the presence of the Russian troops on the border if offensive, striking weapons of NATO are deployed in Finland, in our immediate vicinity,” Bondarev said on Telegram.

Finland announced the official decision to join NATO earlier on Sunday. The decision will be discussed in the Finnish parliament on Monday, and the voting is expected to be held on Tuesday.

The decision was followed by Sweden, which is expected to officially apply for NATO membership together with Finland.

One of Putin’s closest allies said last month that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad if Finland and Sweden joined NATO.

The accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO – founded in 1949 to provide European security against the Soviet Union – would be one of the biggest strategic consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to date.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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