MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. Russia will take retaliatory measures following Sweden’s accession to NATO, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
When speaking about what consequences Sweden’s move would have for Russia, Peskov pointed out that they would "definitely be negative."
The Kremlin spokesman noted that in response, Russia would take "measures similar to those that are being planned with regard to Finland's accession [to NATO], which took place earlier."
On Monday, Ankara agreed to lift its veto on Sweden’s admission to NATO following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and European Council President Charles Michel, which took place on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius. Sweden vowed not to support the organizations designated as terrorist by Ankara and provide all possible assistance to Turkey with regard to its European integration.
Sweden and Finland submitted their applications to join NATO in 2022 but the process was blocked by Turkey because it wanted the two countries to first designate Kurdish organizations as terrorist and extradite those charged with involvement in the 2016 coup attempt. On March 31, 2023, Turkey’s parliament passed a protocol approving Finland’s accession to NATO, after which the Nordic country formally joined the North Atlantic Alliance on April 4.
Russia has repeatedly warned that another round of NATO’s expansion would lead to retaliation from Moscow.