Putin says Russia has ‘no problems’ with Finland and Sweden after Nato announcements
Max Seddon in Riga and Richard Milne in Oslo
Vladimir Putin said Russia “has no problems” with Finland and Sweden after the Nordic countries announced their intention to join Nato, but warned that Moscow would respond if they deployed new military hardware there.
Speaking in the Kremlin on Monday, Russia’s president said “there is no direct threat for Russia” from Nato’s expansion into Finland and Sweden, according to Interfax.
Putin’s comments appeared to suggest that he could accept Finland and Sweden joining the transatlantic military alliance provided they did not increase their military presence or take on deployments from other countries.
Instead, Putin said that “expanding military infrastructure on to this territory would provoke a response from us [ . . .] based on the threats they create for us.”
Sweden has repeatedly said it does not want Nato military bases on its soil or to host nuclear missiles. Finland is seen as unlikely to want either but said on Sunday that it would not set conditions before its membership.
布甸狗軟到仆街
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