MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. Moscow views Finland’s military drills that took place near the Russian border as a NATO provocation, Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Andrey Nastasyin told a briefing on Wednesday.

"We view the Finnish military maneuvers near the Russian state border on July 21-26 that involved about 1,700 troops and 300 transport vehicles as an integral part of NATO’s comprehensive provocative efforts to contain Russia," the diplomat said.

Helsinki caries out such actions as part of Finland’s accelerated integration into the North Atlantic military alliance, he pointed out.

"We see that the political leadership of that North European country being in a state of deep and unprovoked Russophobia voluntarily sacrifices its own national interests, turning once good-neighborly Finland into an outpost of NATO’s military aspirations in the Baltic Sea region and the Arctic," the Russian diplomat stressed.