Peskov: the Kremlin considers Finland’s entry into NATO an aggravation of the situation

NATO expansion is an encroachment on the security and national interests of Russia, the Kremlin considers this step another aggravation of the situation, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, told reporters, commenting on Finland’s entry into the military alliance.

“The Kremlin believes that this is another aggravation of the situation. NATO expansion is an encroachment on our security and the national interests of the Russian Federation… And naturally, this forces us to take countermeasures to ensure our own security, both tactically and strategically,” he said.

Answering a clarifying question about what kind of countermeasures Russia can take, Peskov said that these are the measures that “the Russian Federation considers necessary.” Russia will closely monitor how NATO will use the territory of Finland and what weapons and infrastructure will be deployed there. Depending on this, measures will be taken, he added.

At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman stressed that the situation with Finland is “radically” different from the situation with Ukraine, since Moscow never had disputes with Helsinki, and Finland did not become “anti-Russia”.

“With Ukraine, the situation is diametrically opposite and potentially more dangerous. This dictated the need for a special military operation and the achievement as a result of it of all the goals that were set,” Peskov said.

Finland will go in into the North Atlantic Alliance today, 4 April. Turkey, which was the last of the alliance’s 30 countries to not ratify Helsinki’s bid to join NATO, did so on the night of March 31st. On March 1, the Finnish parliament approved the law on the country’s accession to the alliance.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership at the same time on May 18, 2022. After Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21, Erdogan said that Sweden should no longer wait for support for its application to join NATO.