Lavrov Says Finland And Sweden Joining NATO “Makes No Difference”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that NATO has “taken into account the territories of Finland and Sweden in its military plans for eastward expansion” for years, and therefore the two countries’ accession to the alliance “makes no difference.”

“Finland, Sweden and other neutral countries have for years participated in NATO’s military exercises. NATO has taken their territories into account in planning its eastward movement,” Lavrov said on Tuesday, state news agency TASS reported.

“In this context it apparently makes no difference any more (in connection with their admission to NATO),” Lavrov added.

Speaking at an educational conference organized by the Russian Znanie (Knowledge) society in Moscow, Lavrov said Russia doesn’t see why Finland and Sweden should be worried about their security.

“For this reason we see their decision, which Washington and NATO surely lobbied for, as a geopolitical move in the context of Russia’s containment and the implementation of NATO’s plans to spread its activities to the Arctic region,” he said.

“Incidentally, the Finnish President and the Finnish ambassadors everywhere have been saying that they see no threats from Russia. Admission to NATO stems from the changes in the security situation in Europe. But there is no logic here,” he added.

Russia will observe how NATO uses the territories of Finland and Sweden and “make its conclusions,” Lavrov said.

Finland’s government said on Sunday that it intends to join NATO, and on Tuesday Sweden’s foreign minister signed an application declaring the country wants to join the military alliance.

EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell reiterated on Tuesday that the European Council “strongly supports” the application of both countries to join NATO.