Putin insists he does not care if neighbors Finland and Sweden join NATO “there is nothing that can stop us from joining Sweden and Finland into NATO”. But he spoke out against her “imperial aspirations.” He also denied that his army attacked the mall in Ukraine that killed 18 civilians. He made the remarks in a speech in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he has no problem with neighbors Finland and Sweden joining NATO, while condemning the United States’ “imperial ambitions” and proposing “supremacy.” Regional. “There is nothing that can stop us from joining Sweden and Finland into NATO, if Finland and Sweden want, they can join, it’s up to them. They can join what they want,” he said.
However he threatened: “If military forces and military infrastructure are deployed there, we will be obliged to respond symmetrically and raise the same threats on those areas where threats have arisen for us.” Putin claimed that “NATO leaders want to assert their supremacy, their imperial aspirations, the Atlantic Alliance and above all the United States have long needed an external enemy around which they can unite their allies,” Putin said.
“Iran has not been good at it. Iran has given them this opportunity to gather the whole world around them.” Putin underestimated his antagonism towards the two Nordic neighbors who were traditionally neutral states, mainly so as not to provoke Russia. “We have no problems with Sweden and Finland as we have with Ukraine,” Putin said at a news conference.
“We have no territorial differences, but they need to understand that they have not faced any threats before that,” he said. Sweden and Finland probably do not see it that way, they both decided to apply to join NATO after Russia launched a military invasion of pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.
Putin warned his Scandinavian neighbors that if they welcomed NATO troops and military infrastructure into their territory, Russia would respond. “Putin asked, everything was fine between us, and now there will be tensions.”
Putin has arrived in Turkmenistan for a summit of leaders from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to discuss “topical issues of cooperation in the Caspian Sea.” Putin said that his goals in Ukraine had not changed since the beginning of the war.
He denied that Russia had adjusted its strategy after failing to take control of Kyiv. “As you can see, the forces are moving and reaching the goals set for them, everything is going according to plan,” Putin said.
Putin also denied responsibility for the missile strike at the Kremenchuk Mall earlier this week, in which at least 18 people were killed and dozens injured. “Our military does not attack any civilian infrastructure site. We have every ability to know what is where,” Putin clarified.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky has condemned Russia’s actions as “one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history.” Russia has blamed Ukraine for directing the attack. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said his army fired a “high-precision air strike at the hangars where the ammunition was stored,” and the explosion of those weapons depots caused a fire in a nearby mall, he said. Was empty at the time.