Russian chancellor says Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership ‘doesn’t make much difference’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership “probably won’t make much difference” as the two countries have long participated in the alliance’s military exercises. .

“Finland and Sweden, as well as other neutral countries, have been participating in NATO military exercises for many years,” Lavrov said.

“NATO takes its territory into account when planning military advances to the east. So in that sense, there’s probably not much of a difference. We will see how his territory is used in practice in the North Atlantic alliance.”

The governments of the two Nordic countries have taken official steps towards the US-led military alliance in recent days. The Finnish parliament is due to vote on whether or not to join NATO on Tuesday (17).

Sweden also signed on Tuesday the formal application to join the bloc. Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Monday that the country should join NATO along with neighboring Finland to “ensure the safety of the Swedish people.”

But the path may not be so easy for the two countries, as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has spoken out against Sweden and Finland joining the alliance of which it is a part and promises to bar the nomination. According to Erdogan, both harbor terrorist organizations.

President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country will respond if NATO militarily reinforces the two countries. For the Russian, the expansion of the alliance is being used by the United States in an “aggressive” way to worsen a global security situation.

During a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the president of Belarus called on the countries that make up the bloc to unite against the West and its “pressure in the post-Soviet space”.

*with information from Reuters