MOSCOW, April 5. /TASS/. Russia will do everything possible for its security due to a new threat that has emerged after Finland’s accession to NATO, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
Finland’s NATO membership "creates an additional threat to Russia," Peskov stressed.
"This obliges us to take necessary measures to rebalance the security system," the Russian presidential spokesman said.
The Kremlin press secretary said that he could not name specific steps that Moscow intended to take. "Naturally, this will require certain time because this is not a one-off action, this is a process stretched out in time. But everything that is necessary for ensuring our security will be done," the Russian presidential spokesman assured.
Finland’s NATO membership both creates an additional threat to Russia and fails to contribute to security in Europe, Peskov pointed out.
"This is, undoubtedly, an event that does not contribute to strengthening stability, security and predictability on the European continent," the Russian presidential spokesman said.
Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO on May 18, 2022, but Turkey immediately blocked their bids to get into the US-led bloc, demanding that the Nordic countries declare Kurdish organizations as terror groups and extradite individuals accused of terrorism or complicity in the 2016 failed coup attempt in the country.
In order to settle these issues, Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum before a NATO summit in 2022, stipulating specific steps that these two Nordic countries should take as viewed by Turkey. The Turkish parliament approved a bill on ratifying a protocol on Finland’s NATO membership on March 30. Helsinki was officially admitted into the North Atlantic alliance as its 31st member on April 4.