Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Finland this Sunday that there could be “problems” in the “friendly relations” between the two countries after the northern country joins NATO.
“There were no problems. Now there will be. We are going to create the Leningrad Military District (North-Western) and concentrate military units there. Did they need this? This is simply absurd,” Putin said in speeches on the Moscow program.
The Russian leader said that all territorial disputes between the two countries were resolved in the mid-20th century, so he expressed regret that “Finland was drawn into NATO.”
“We had a very good and warm relationship,” he insisted.
Moscow intends to strengthen its northwestern flank, especially the region around the country’s second city St. Petersburg, which is just 300 kilometers from the Finnish capital Helsinki.
Experts consider Finland’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance to be one of Putin’s biggest miscalculations when launching a military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022.
The Kremlin has already warned this week that the deployment of US troops in Finland would pose a clear threat to Russia.
Finland and the United States have reached a cooperation agreement that will allow American troops to use 15 military bases in the Scandinavian country, the Finnish government said on Thursday.
Finland’s Foreign Ministry explained in a statement that the measure would strengthen the Scandinavian country’s defenses by allowing the presence and training of American forces and the storage of defense equipment on its territory.
Finland, the EU country with the longest border with Russia (1,340 kilometers), chose to abandon its traditional policy of neutrality after the start of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine and completed its accession to NATO in record time in April.
Moscow threatened countermeasures, including “military-technical” ones.
Helsinki closed its border with Russia in November and reopened it this week, but closed it again 24 hours later due to an increase in migrants from the Middle East.
The authorities of the Scandinavian country accuse Moscow of using “hybrid warfare” methods similar to those used by Belarus on the border with Poland two years ago.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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