MAKHACHKALA, May 27. /TASS/. The collective West is pushing Helsinki towards an escalating confrontation with Moscow, which is severely undermining Finland’s national security, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
The diplomat pointed to a significant surge in military exercises in the West, which indicate NATO’s intention "to fully explore the territory of its new members, namely Finland."
"Many have no idea what it is all about and that the collective West is pushing them towards an all-out confrontation with Russia, which primarily runs counter to their own national interests, and that these steps being taken are literally destroying national security," Zakharova noted.
The drills that Finland is expected to host on May 21-28, which will involve troops and equipment from Germany, Sweden and Estonia and will be aimed at practicing wartime operations, "are quickly turning — with unconditional approval from the Finnish authorities — into another tool that NATO uses to escalate tensions along Russia’s border," she emphasized.
"It seems that Finland’s military and political elites, deeply affected by the virus of Russophobia, are getting mentally prepared for a war that we are unaware of, but perhaps, they will explain what they mean," the diplomat went on to say. "They are focused solely on achieving the goals related to this war, spending billions of euros from their country’s budget on what is being dictated to them as the West’s narrative," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.