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Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned there will be “problems” with neighbouring Finland after it joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) earlier this year.
Finland’s ascension to NATO marked a major shift in the security landscape in northern Europe and added some 1,300 kilometres (830 miles) to the alliance’s frontier with Russia.
It was also a blow for President Putin, who has long warned against NATO expansion.
“They (the West) took Finland and dragged it into NATO! Why, did we have any disputes with Finland? All disputes, including those of a territorial nature in the middle of the 20th Century, have all been resolved long ago,” Putin said in an interview published on Sunday.
“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,” Putin added in the interview with Russian state broadcaster Russia 1.
Putin also dismissed as “complete nonsense” remarks from US President Joe Biden, who earlier this month warned that Putin would “keep going” if he takes Ukraine, suggesting that Russia could eventually attack a NATO ally and draw US troops into conflict.
The Russian leader said Russia “has no reason, no interest, no geopolitical interest, neither economic, nor political, nor military, to fight with NATO countries,” adding Moscow does not have any territorial claims in NATO countries.
“There is no desire to spoil relations with them (NATO countries), we are interested in developing relations,” Putin added.
Finland became the 31st member of NATO when it joined in April, doubling the security alliance’s direct frontier with Russia.
Even before Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, he had demanded NATO limit its expansion. Yet, it was the war that “altered the security environment of Finland,” driving the Nordic nation’s desire to join the alliance, President Sauli Niinistö said in May 2022 when announcing his country would seek to join.
Within a few months of its application, the Finnish government said it would spend around $143 million on building barrier fences along Finland’s 830-mile eastern border with Russia, which used to have little security protections.
Finland again shut its entire border with Russia this week, over claims hundreds of people were trying to cross without a visa.
After another closure was announced last month, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo accused Russia of “enabling the instrumentalization of people and guiding them to the Finnish border in harsh winter conditions. Finland is determined to put an end to this phenomenon.”
Source: CNN
普丁警告加入北約後與鄰國芬蘭將出現問題
俄羅斯總統普丁警告說，鄰國芬蘭在今年稍早加入北大西洋公約組織（北約）後將出現「問題」。
芬蘭加入北約標誌著北歐安全格局的重大轉變，並使該聯盟與俄羅斯的邊界增加了約 1,300 公里（830 英里）。
這對普丁總統來說也是一個打擊，他長期以來一直警告反對北約擴張。
「他們（西方）佔領了芬蘭並將其拖入北約！ 為什麼我們和芬蘭有任何糾紛？ 所有爭端，包括20世紀中葉的領土爭端，都早已解決。」普丁在周日發表的訪談中表示。
普丁在接受俄羅斯國家廣播公司「俄羅斯第一台」採訪時補充說：「以前沒有問題，但現在將會出現問題，因為我們現在將在那裡建立列寧格勒軍區，並且肯定會在那裡集中軍事部隊。”
普丁還駁斥了美國總統喬·拜登的言論，稱其“完全是無稽之談”。拜登本月早些時候警告稱，如果普丁拿下烏克蘭，普丁將“繼續前進”，暗示俄羅斯最終可能攻擊北約盟友，並將美軍捲入衝突。
這位俄羅斯領導人表示，俄羅斯“沒有理由、沒有興趣、沒有地緣政治利益、無論是經濟、政治還是軍事，與北約國家作戰”，並補充說莫斯科對北約國家沒有任何領土主張。
普丁補充說： “我們無意破壞與他們（北約國家）的關係，我們有興趣發展關係。”
芬蘭於 4 月加入，成為北約第 31 個成員國，使該安全聯盟與俄羅斯的直接邊界擴大了一倍。
甚至在普丁發動入侵烏克蘭之前，他就已要求北約限制擴張。 然而，芬蘭總統紹利·尼尼斯托(Sauli Niinistö) 在2022 年5 月宣布芬蘭將尋求加入聯盟時表示，正是這場戰爭“改變了芬蘭的安全環境”，推動了這個北歐國家加入聯盟的願望。
在申請後的幾個月內，芬蘭政府表示將斥資約 1.43 億美元，沿著芬蘭東部與俄羅斯 830 英里的邊境建造隔離柵欄，而該地區過去幾乎沒有任何安全保護措施。
芬蘭本週再次關閉了與俄羅斯的整個邊境，據稱有數百人試圖在沒有簽證的情況下越境。
上個月宣布再次關閉後，芬蘭總理佩特里·奧爾波指責俄羅斯「使人們工具化，並在嚴酷的冬季條件下引導他們前往芬蘭邊境。 芬蘭決心結束這種現象。”
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