Russia has “no problem” if Finland and Sweden be a part of NATO, President Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday.
“We do not have issues with Sweden and Finland like we do with Ukraine,” Putin informed a information convention withinside the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat.
“We do not have territorial differences,” the Russian chief continued.
“There is not anything that would trouble us approximately Sweden and Finland becoming a member of NATO. If Finland and Sweden desire to, they are able to be a part of. That’s as much as them. They can be a part of some thing they want.”
However, “if navy contingents and navy infrastructure have been deployed there, we might be obliged to reply symmetrically and lift the equal threats for the ones territories in which threats have arisen for us,” Putin stated.
Sweden and Finland have each determined to use to sign up for NATO after Russia released its navy operation in pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.
The formal system for club become released on the NATO summit in Madrid on Wednesday.
Until now, Russia had usually been vital of the chance of the 2 Nordic nations becoming a member of the alliance, announcing it’d be a “destabilising factor” for worldwide security.
Putin nonetheless condemned NATO’s “imperial ambitions”, accusing the alliance of searching for to say its “supremacy” thru the Ukraine conflict.
“Ukraine and the health of Ukrainian humans isn’t always the intention of the collective West and NATO however a method to shield their very own interests,” Putin stated.
“The NATO nations’ leaders desire to… assert their supremacy, their imperial ambitions,” he added.
The Atlantic alliance and “above all of the United States have lengthy wished an outside enemy round which they are able to unite their allies,” the Russian chief stated.
“Iran wasn’t excellent for that. We’ve given them this opportunity… to collect the complete global round them.”
