Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in a new interview that there will be problems for Finland after the West “dragged it into NATO” over the war in Ukraine.
Putin made the comments in an interview with Russian state broadcaster Russia 1 on Sunday.
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“They [the West] took Finland and dragged it into NATO. Why? Did we have any disputes with Finland?” the Russian leader said. “All disputes, including those of a territorial nature in the middle of the 20th century, have all been resolved long ago. We had the best, most heartfelt relations. Economically, everything was developing.”
“There were no problems, but now there will be, because we will now create the Leningrad military district there and definitely concentrate military units there,” he continued.
Finland was formally ratified as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in April, a move backed by the United States and most of Europe. The expansion of NATO, which is considered the world’s greatest military alliance, only further worsened tense relations between the West and Russia. Putin has long said that any post-Cold War expansion of NATO would serve as proof that the West does not take Moscow’s security concerns seriously.
Finland has also accused Russia of sending migrants to their shared border to destabilize the region, which Moscow denies. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo closed the entire 830-mile border with Russia late last month over the situation.
In his Sunday interview, Putin also pushed back on President Joe Biden‘s claim that he would attack a NATO country if he succeeded in taking Ukraine.
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“It is complete nonsense — and I think President Biden understands that,” he said, going on to say that Biden appears to be trying to justify his own “mistaken policy” on the war in Ukraine.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to the White House for comment.
