Kremlin: Russia will consider Finland and Sweden adversaries if they join NATO
If Finland and Sweden join NATO, then Russia will have more "officially registered adversaries,“ said the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, on Telegram.
According to him, if Sweden and Finland join NATO, the length of the land borders of the Alliance with the Russian Federation will more than double.
Medvedev said that in the face of this threat Russia will have to seriously strengthen its ground and air defense forces, as well as deploy significant naval forces to the Gulf of Finland.
"In this case, there will be no question of any nuclear-free status of the Baltics. The balance must be restored," Medvedev said.
Medvedev also said that he believes that these countries would still be invited to NATO regardless of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Office of the Ukrainian President commented on Medvedev's statement.
"Russia says it started the war to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO. After the accession of Finland and Switzerland, the Kremlin will have NATO half an hour's drive from St. Petersburg. 20,000+ dead Russian soldiers. A destroyed economy. Complete isolation. But the special operation is still "going according to plan." What was this plan?” wrote the adviser to the head of Ukrainian Presidential Administration, Mikhaylo Podolyak, on Twitter.
In January, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Sweden and Finland would be able to join NATO if they applied for membership.