MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia “does not have a problem” with Sweden or Finland as they apply for NATO membership but that it will react to any military expansion in the countries.
Discussing Finland and Sweden, Putin said that Russia “does not have a problem with these states. And therefore in this sense, there is no direct threat to Russia created by the expansion involving these countries, but the expansion of military infrastructure onto this territory will of course give rise to our reaction in response.”
Putin was speaking at a summit in Moscow of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, which includes five other ex-Soviet countries.