Shoigu says Finland's accession to NATO poses a threat to russia
According to him, NATO may deploy strike weapons on Finnish territory that can hit targets in russia
russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the threat to russia from Finland has "multiplied", as "additional military contingents and NATO strike weapons capable of striking critical targets in northwestern russia at a considerable depth are likely to be deployed on Finnish territory," Interfax reports.
Earlier, russian dictator vladimir putin said that Finland's and potentially Sweden's accession to NATO poses no "direct threat" to russia. At the same time, he noted that "the expansion of military infrastructure in the region will certainly provoke our response."
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In his speech, Shoigu spoke about the doubling of russia's border with the North Atlantic Alliance. He also announced the strengthening of the grouping on the borders with Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine.
The russian defence minister also said that Poland is allegedly preparing to enter the western part of Ukraine to capture it.
Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO after russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On 4 April, 2023, Finland officially became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance. An obstacle to Sweden's accession to the Alliance is Turkey's position, which demands the extradition of Kurdish refugees and Turkish oppositionists.
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