Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration — Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. Archive photoMOSCOW, May 17.Russia would not want to interfere in relations between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, commenting on Turkey's reaction to the desire of these two countries to join NATO. On Monday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara could not say » yes» to the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, because he cannot believe their assurances about relations with representatives of the Kurdistan Workers' Party banned in Turkey. If Turkey agrees, NATO, according to Erdogan, «will not be a security organization, but will become a place where there will be many representatives of terrorists.»Turkey was threatened with «expulsion» from NATO for obstructing the expansion of the alliance «The fact is that Finland and Sweden are countries that have applied and are applying to join the alliance, and Turkey is a member of the alliance, and this is a matter of relations between these countries and within the alliance itself, we would not want to interfere in these relations,» Peskov said, answering a question about Russia's reaction to Turkey's statements. Answering the question whether the Kremlin admits that Turkey will veto and prevent countries from joining the alliance, Peskov stressed that this issue has nothing to do with Russia. «I repeat once again, this is not our issue, this is an issue within the framework of relations between the member states of the alliance. It has nothing to do with us. Our attitude to the expansion of the alliance is well known, we have repeatedly discussed this But the topic of relations between NATO member countries does not apply to us,» Peskov said. Russia has repeatedly noted that NATO is aimed at confrontation. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation stated that further expansion of the alliance would not bring greater security to Europe, NATO has an aggressive character. At the same time, he noted that he did not consider the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO an existential threat to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö, noted that abandoning the traditional policy of military neutrality would be erroneous, since there are no threats to Finland's security. In his opinion, a change in the country's foreign policy may have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations, which for many years were built in the spirit of good neighborliness and partnership cooperation, were mutually beneficial. jpg» />Turkey will not say yes to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Erdogan said
