Russia announced on Monday its intention to strengthen its military capabilities near Finland, a border country that will become a member of NATO on Tuesday, an expansion that Moscow perceives as a threat.
“We will strengthen our military capabilities in the west and northwest,” on the borders with Eastern Europe and Finland, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grouchko said.
“In the event of the deployment of forces and assets of other NATO members on Finnish territory, we will take additional measures to reliably guarantee Russia’s military security,” he added, quoted by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti.
The West, an “existential threat” for Moscow
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday that Finland will become the 31st member of the Atlantic Alliance on Tuesday, much to the chagrin of Moscow.
After the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine last year, Finland and Sweden decided to turn the page on their policy of military non-alignment in force since the 1990s by applying to join NATO in May 2022.
Russia had assured in March that it does not represent a “threat” to the two Nordic countries and that it does not have “any dispute” with them.
Russia, however, regards the extension of NATO to its borders as a fundamental threat to its security, and Ukraine’s ambition to join the Alliance was one of the reasons put forward by Moscow to justify its attack on this country.
The new Russian diplomatic doctrine made public last week points to the West as an “existential threat” whose “dominance” Moscow must combat.
Source: BFM TV
