The Kremlin expressed regret over the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO

Moscow regrets the decision of the Finnish and Swedish authorities to join NATO, since Russia does not pose a threat to these countries, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

At the conference call, Peskov was asked to comment on the words of Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, who said that Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan would announce at a meeting with him in Ankara on Friday about the approval of Helsinki’s application for NATO membership.

“We have repeatedly expressed regret in connection with such an orientation towards membership in the alliance of Finland and Sweden. We have repeatedly said that Russia does not pose a threat to these countries in any way, because we do not have any disputes with these countries, since these countries have never claimed to become anti-Russia,” Peskov said.

Turkey, on the other hand, has “its own line” in connection with the entry of new members into NATO, and has “its own intra-NATO problems”, which it is solving.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership at the same time on May 18, 2022. At the moment, only two countries of the NATO bloc – Hungary and Turkey – have not ratified the protocols on the accession of states to the alliance. March 1 Finnish parliament supported bill for the country’s accession to NATO.

According to the agreements signed in June, Stockholm and Helsinki promised Ankara to investigate and stop any funding and recruitment activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), recognized as terrorist in Turkey. In addition, Sweden and Finland pledged to consider Turkey’s requests for the extradition of suspected terrorists, while Stockholm separately announced the tightening of anti-terrorism legislation in the country.

A new round of tension in relations between Sweden and Turkey was caused by several actions with the burning of the Koran. After Danish politician Rasmus Paludan burned a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21, Erdogan said Sweden should no longer wait for support for its NATO bid. Finland admitted that the country could join the alliance without Sweden, but then stressed that Helsinki’s position on joining together with its neighbor had not changed.