Finland NATO membership ‘an assault on our security’: Kremlin
The Kremlin on Tuesday described Finland’s NATO membership as an “assault” on its security” and said it represented “the latest aggravation of the situation”.
“The expansion of NATO is an assault on our security and Russia’s national interests,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, AFP reported.
Finland formally joined the NATO military alliance on Tuesday in a historic policy shift, drawing a threat from Moscow of “countermeasures”.
Finland’s accession roughly doubles the length of the border that NATO shares with Russia, adding 1,340 kilometres, and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in sight, Reuters reported.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto completed the accession process by handing over an official document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, welcomed Finland to its ranks, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is getting exactly the opposite…Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full-fledged member of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
The Kremlin said Russia would be forced to take “countermeasures” to Finland’s accession.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the move raised the prospect of the conflict in Ukraine escalating further.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday also hailed Finland joining NATO as a “historic day”, and said the shift was because of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Congratulating Finland, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged the military grouping to admit Sweden next, after its entry was blocked by Hungary and Turkey.
Finland’s formal accession as the 31st member of NATO “has made our Alliance stronger and every one of us safer”, Sunak said.
Russia also said on Monday it would strengthen its military capacity in its western and northwestern regions in response to Finland joining NATO.