Russia warns of security risk due to possible deployment of US forces in Finland

2023-12-15 16:00:29

MADRID, 15 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov warned this Friday of the risk that the possible deployment of US forces in Finland would pose to Russia’s security, as part of the military agreement that Washington and Helsinki are expected to ratify next week.

“The possible deployment of a US military contingent in Finland represents a threat to Russia and will cause unnecessary tensions between the two neighboring countries,” Peskov said at a press conference this Friday, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

“We can only regret it because we really had excellent relations with Finland,” said Peskov, who explained that this new situation was inevitable after Finland’s entry into NATO.

“Now that Finland has become a member of NATO, NATO military infrastructure is already entering Finland, and this will pose a threat to us, quite obviously,” he said.

This week, Finland announced a defense and security cooperation agreement with the United States, which is scheduled to be signed on Monday, December 18. As part of the alliance, both will carry out joint exercises and will be able to transfer troops and equipment in a more simplified manner.

Washington also reserves the possibility of using Finnish territory to carry out operations and store weapons and equipment.

Relations between Russia and Finland are not going through their best moment. This week, the Nordic Government closed all its border crossings again after the short-lived reopening of two of its nine crossings. Helsinki accuses Moscow of encouraging irregular immigration to destabilize the situation on its borders.