Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko. File photoMOSCOW, May 19.Russia's military response to Sweden and Finland joining NATO will be commensurate with the types of weapons that will be deployed there, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said.Finland and Sweden handed over to NATO Secretary General Jens on Wednesday Stoltenberg's application to join the alliance.
"First of all, in military terms, Russia's reaction will be proportionate and adequate to the presence of NATO on the territories of these two states, to what types of weapons will be deployed. But I can assure you for sure that Russia's security will certainly be ensured,” Matvienko said in an interview with Izvestiya.
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 Niiniste, 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» />The President of Croatia opposed the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO