2023-12-17 13:52:30
Finland’s entry into NATO will create “problems” where there were “none”, says Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Finland’s entry into NATO this year will create ” problems “ where there is “had none” and in response announced a military buildup in northwest Russia.
“There were no problems there, but now there will be, because we are going to create the Leningrad Military District and concentrate a certain number of units there”he told a public television journalist in an interview broadcast on Sunday, during which he accused the West of having “dragged Finland into NATO”.
Relations between the two neighbors, who share a 1,340-kilometer-long border, have deteriorated considerably since February 2022 and the Russian offensive in Ukraine, an attack which led Finland, worried about its security, to join NATO in April 2023. « Ils [l’Occident] brought Finland into NATO. Did we have any disagreements with them? All, including the territorial disputes of the mid-20th century, are long-settled”declared Mr. Putin.
Finland announced Thursday that it was closing its entire border with Russia, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a migration crisis. This decision will be effective from Friday at 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Paris time) and until January 14, according to Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen.
Mr. Putin added that Russia had no reason to be at war with NATO countries, while the American president, Joe Biden, raised in early December the hypothesis of a Russian attack against a member country of the organization. Mr Biden had warned that the Russian president “won’t stop[it] not “ to Ukraine.
American leaders “demonize Russia”, had retorted the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov. For Mr. Putin, “this is rhetoric to justify an erroneous policy towards Russia”. Moscow n’a “no interest – whether in geopolitical, economic or military terms – in fighting NATO countries”assured Mr. Putin.
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