Finland and Sweden join the NATO alliance "is not a problem" According to the Russian president, to Russia Vladimir Putinas he said, the decisions of both nordic countries are related to internal affairs.
"We do not have the same problems with Sweden and Finland as we do with Ukraine. They want to join NATO, go ahead," Putin told Russian state television.
However, the news agency Reuters reported Putin also warned that Russia would react if NATO deployed troops and infrastructure in Finland and Sweden.
"But they must realize that there was no threat in the past, but now, if military forces and infrastructure are deployed there, we must respond in kind and create the same threats in the areas where we are threatened." Putin said, adding that it was "inevitable" that the relations between Russia, Finland and Sweden are now tightening.
Former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev has previously warned that Russia must strengthen its defense in the Baltic Sea region, including through nuclear weapons, if Finland and Sweden join NATO.
Tuomas ForsbergA professor of international politics at the University of Tampere, told Yle, Putin’s rhetoric is beginning to focus more on the possibility that NATO’s military infrastructure will be brought to Finland and Sweden, not on membership per se.
"Putin is now a good cop and Medvedev is a bad cop, although maybe before it was thought to be the other way around." Forsberg said.
The NATO countries decided to invite Finland and Sweden to officially join the alliance on Wednesday with the Finnish president Sauli Niinistö told reporters that the accession protocol will be signed next Tuesday at the latest.
All 30 current NATO member countries must officially ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s applications, which Forsberg believes will take at least a few months, even with an accelerated schedule.
"Some countries ratify it very quickly, but it is always the last country. It can often take up to a year," he pointed out.
Source: The Nordic Page