There were no problems there, now there will be after joining NATO, because we will create the Leningrad military district and gather military units there, the Russian president said
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of “problems” with neighboring Finland after it joined NATO earlier this year, in an interview broadcast on state-run Rossiya TV on Sunday.
Finland, which shares a 1,340km border with Russia, joined NATO in April this year. In recent weeks, Helsinki has accused Moscow of “hybrid warfare” by pushing asylum seekers past border crossings, prompting the closure of all but one border crossing last month.
The West “dragged Finland into NATO. Did we have any disagreements with them? All disputes, including territorial disputes in the mid-20th century, have long been resolved,” Putin said. “There were no problems there, now there will be, because we will create the Leningrad Military District and gather military units there.”
Russia plans to reorganize its military divisions to provide more troops to the northwest. “Given NATO’s desire to build up a military force near the Russian border … retaliation is needed to create an appropriate group of troops in northwestern Russia,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last year.
Russia’s plans to further militarize the border come as, on Monday, Finland will sign a defense pact with the US military, allowing it wide access to Finland’s long border with Russia.
Meanwhile, in the same interview, Putin dismissed as “nonsense” US President Joe Biden’s comments that Russia would attack a NATO country if it secured victory in Ukraine. “Russia has no reason, no interest – no geopolitical interest, neither economic, political nor military – to go to war with NATO countries,” Putin said.
Source :Skai
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