Putin warns of consequences if Nato equipment installed in Finland, Sweden

Moscow, Jun 30 (EFE).- Russian president Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Sweden and Finland would face consequences if Nato military infrastructure was installed on their territories.

“As to Sweden and Finland, we do not have the same problems with Sweden and Finland as we, unfortunately, do with Ukraine,” Putin was quoted by the Interfax agency as saying.

“We have no territorial issues or disputes, we have nothing that could cause us concern from the angle of Nato membership for Finland and Sweden. If that is what they want, let them do it,” Putin told reporters in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat on his first trip abroad since launching the invasion of Ukraine in late February.

The Kremlin leader added however that the Nordic countries should be “fully aware” that while they did not face any threats from Russia before, joining the Alliance would change that.

“If military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to give a tit-for-tat response and create the same threats to the territories from where threats are posed toward us,” the president said, according to Intefax.

Putin continued to say that Moscow’s response to the expansion of Nato was “obvious.”

“Don’t they realize that? We used to be fine, but now there may be some tension. This is obvious, and this cannot be avoided,” he warned.

Nato made on Wednesday a “historic” decision during a summit in Madrid to invite Finland and Sweden to join the Alliance following a breakthrough in talks that saw Turkey lift its veto.EFE

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