Finland's entry into NATO will create “problems” where there are “none,” says Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Finland's entry into NATO this year would create “problems” where there were “none” and announced a military buildup in northwest Russia in response.
“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 claimed to have “dragged Finland into NATO”.
Relations between the two neighbors, which share a 1,340-kilometer border, have deteriorated significantly since February 2022 and Russia's offensive in Ukraine, an attack that led to Finland joining NATO in April 2023 out of concern for its security . “She [l’Occident] brought Finland into NATO. Did we have any disagreements with them? All of them, including the territorial disputes of the mid-20th century, have long since been resolved,” Putin said.
Finland announced on Thursday it was closing its entire border with Russia, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a migration crisis. According to Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, this decision will come into force from Friday at 8 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Paris time) and until January 14.
Mr Putin added that Russia had no reason to go to war with NATO countries, while American President Joe Biden put forward the hypothesis of a Russian attack against a member country of the organization in early December. Mr Biden had warned that the Russian president “won’t stop”.[it] not” to Ukraine.
American leaders are “demonizing Russia,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded. For Mr Putin, “this is rhetoric to justify a wrong policy towards Russia.” Moscow has “no interest – neither in geopolitical, economic nor military terms – in fighting NATO countries,” Putin assured.