The Kremlin warned Tuesday that Finland’s entry into NATO »will greatly aggravate the situation» and stressed that Moscow »is forced to take tactical and strategic countermeasures» to what it describes as an »intrusion» by the Atlantic Alliance on its security.
»NATO expansion is an intrusion into our security and interests. This is how we perceive it,» said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russian daily ‘Izvestia’ reported. »This forces us to adopt tactical and strategic countermeasures,» he said.
Peskov stressed that Moscow will closely analyze the situation in Finland before adopting these countermeasures, although he stressed that bilateral relations will undergo changes. This will affect the nature of bilateral relations with the states that will become new members of the Alliance,» he said.
Thus, he said that NATO »is a hostile structure» to Russia, although he pointed out that »the situation in Ukraine differs a lot from that in Finland, so it is not possible to compare». In this way, he maintained that Russia »had no disputes with Finland» and stressed that, in the case of Ukraine, »the situation was diametrically different and potentially dangerous». This implied the need for a special operation to achieve objectives», he concluded.
For his part, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu denounced that NATO »is adopting a series of measures to increase the combat readiness of the combined armed forces» and »increasing combat training and reconnaissance activities near the borders with Russia and Belarus».
Shoigu stressed that Finland’s accession to NATO creates a risk of a »significant» expansion of the conflict in Ukraine, although he stressed that it will not affect the outcome of the invasion, unleashed on February 24, 2022 on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In this line, he has affirmed that the United States and its allies have increased their military support to Ukraine and has specified that »this year alone they are ready to supply more than 200 Western-made battle tanks and more than 400 armored combat vehicles». »The Ukrainian Army is receiving long-range weapons, including shells with a range of up to 150 kilometers,» he added.
Finally, the Russian Defense Minister assured that Western countries are considering »the possibility of transferring to Kiev ATACMS tactical surface-to-surface missiles – manufactured by Lockheed Martin – with a range of up to 300 kilometers, as well as F-16 fighters», as reported by the Russian news agency TASS.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
