Finland’s NATO membership will force 'countermeasures' from Moscow: Kremlin

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Finland’s imminent NATO membership will force Moscow to take countermeasures, the Kremlin warned on Tuesday.

"The Kremlin believes that this is another aggravation of the situation, that NATO expansion is an encroachment on our security, the interests of the Russian Federation. This is exactly how we perceive it. We will take countermeasures to ensure our own tactical and strategic security," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing.

Peskov said the countermeasures that Moscow "deems necessary" will be taken, adding that the Russian Armed Forces will report on the response to NATO actions in Finland.

"Believe me, our military will inform us about everything in a timely manner … We will carefully observe what happens in Finland, how the North Atlantic bloc will exploit the territories in Finland in terms of placing weapons, systems, and infrastructure that will be close to our borders and potentially threaten us. Depending on this, measures will be taken," he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that Finland will become a full-fledged member of the alliance on Tuesday, with its flag raised at NATO headquarters.​​​​​​

Reversing its longstanding policies, Finland announced its intention to join NATO soon after Russia started its war on Ukraine in February 2022 – a war launched in part to prevent any move by Ukraine to join NATO.

As Finland joins NATO with its 1,340-kilometer (832-mile) frontier with neighboring Russia, NATO’s border with Russia is being roughly doubled.