MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. The defense cooperation agreement between the US and Finland essentially gives Washington control over all of Northern Europe, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"What is going on is precisely what we have been warning about since the very beginning. Now control over the region is in fact being transferred to Washington. The two countries’ territories are being rapidly developed militarily by NATO members despite the fact that Sweden has not joined the alliance yet," the diplomat said.

Zakharova explained that under the agreement, the Americans gain full access to military facilities in Finland.

"What is more, they will have limitless opportunities to use them for their own purposes, and these purposes will not coincide with the goals of the residents of Finland," Zakharova said.

Earlier, Finland’s Ambassador to Russia Antti Helantera was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry over the defense deal inked by Washington and Helsinki. The Finnish diplomat was notified at the Russian Foreign Ministry that the current Finnish authorities are fully responsible for transforming the region from an area of good-neighborliness to an area of confrontation.