A Kremlin spokesman threatened that if Finland were to join NATO, there would “definitely” be “retaliatory steps” – stopping just short of identifying exactly what those steps would be.
He added, “NATO is moving toward us.”
“That’s of course why all of this will warrant a special analysis and the development of necessary measures needed to balance the situation and guarantee our security,” the initial Kremlin response stated.
A number of hours after Finland’s president Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the country intends to apply for NATO membership “without delay” – Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov elaborated on Moscow’s likely response in an interview.
“Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of military and other nature, in order to curtail the threats that arise to its national security in this regard,” Chizhov stressed in the interview when asked about Finland and Sweden’s applying to NATO.
The two countries first sent strong signals regarding this complete U-turn in historic policy last month in response to Russia’s ongoing military aggression against Ukraine.
The Russian ambassador said further in the interview that he’s “deeply disappointed and saddened” by the development, while saying in a somewhat condescending tone that Finland has been “pushing above its weight, having become in the last few decades a major power in promoting European security architecture.”
He went on to say that by joining NATO, the country which shares and 810 mile border with Russia would inevitably become a “NATO backwater.”
The ambassador said such a move would “certainly necessitate rethinking of Russian defense posture” but wouldn’t “necessarily [involve] troops and tanks, but certain preparations definitely… like radars, perhaps”.
Russia’s UN ambassador also warned of military consequences in a statement, “As soon as Finland and Sweden become members of NATO and military units of the alliance are there, these territories will become a possible target for the Russian military”
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