Russia has “no problems” if Finland and Sweden join NATO, said President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
We have no problems with Sweden and Finland as we do with Ukraine,” Putin said at a press conference in the Turkmenistan Ashgabat capital.
Nothing can bother us about Sweden and Finland join NATO. If Finland and Sweden want, they can join. It’s up to them. They can join whatever they want.”
However, “If the military contingent and military infrastructure are deployed there, we will be required to respond symmetrically and increase the same threat to areas where threats have emerged for us,” Putin said.
Sweden and Finland both decided to register to join NATO after Russia launched its military operations in Ukraine Pro-West on February 24.The formal process for membership was launched at the NATO Summit in Madrid on Wednesday.
Until now, Russia has always criticized the prospects of the two Nordic countries who joined the alliance, saying it would be a “destabilization factor” for international security.
But Putin condemned the “Ambition of the Empire” NATO, accused the alliance of trying to emphasize his “supremacy” through the Ukraine conflict.
Ukraine and the welfare of the Ukrainians are not the goals of the West and collective NATO but the way to maintain their own interests,” Putin said.
The leaders of NATO countries want to … confirm their supremacy, their imperial ambitions,” he added.
The Atlantic Alliance and “Above all the United States have long needed an external enemy where they can unite their allies,” said the Russian leader
Iran is not good for that. We have given them this opportunity … to gather the whole world around them.”
