While Turkish President Erdogan said on Monday that he would vehemently oppose Sweden and Finland’s possible accession to NATO, Russian President Putin toned down earlier threatening language from Moscow.
Russia “has no problem with these states,” Putin said. “Therefore, in that sense, there is no direct threat to Russia” from NATO’s expansion to include these countries.
Putin spoke about this at the Security Summit of Russia and five other former Russian republics. He did add that Russia would take immediate action if NATO moved any troops or weapons to the two Scandinavian countries. “Expansion of military infrastructure into this area will, of course, trigger a response from us in response. What that response will be – we’ll see what kind of threats are created for us.”
Finland and Sweden have said in recent days that they want to join NATO, but for the time being have ruled out the stationing of NATO troops or equipment on their territory.
Putin: Russia will respond to NATO deployment of troops
Earlier on Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had said that Finland and Sweden “shouldn’t have the illusion that we simply agree.”
Erdogan continues to obstruct
In Ankara, President Erdogan has vehemently opposed NATO membership for Sweden and Finland. Turkey has repeatedly accused Finland and Sweden of providing protection to people and groups whom Turkey considers to be terrorists and coup plotters. These include members of the Kurdish terrorist movement PKK and supporters of members of the Gülen movement, which are blamed for the failed attempt in 2016 to stage a coup against Erdogan.
Sweden and Finland had announced that they wanted to send a delegation to Ankara to discuss the issues. They better stay at home, Erdogan said at a press conference on Monday. “Swedish and Finnish delegations don’t have to bother coming to Turkey to convince us,” Erdogan said. All thirty NATO member states must agree to the application before joining.
Also read: Sweden takes historic step towards NATO
On Friday, Erdogan had already said he was “not positive” about NATO membership by Finland and Sweden. Erdogan called neighboring Greece’s entry into NATO in 1952 a mistake: “We don’t want to make another mistake like that.”
At the meeting of the 30 NATO foreign ministers in Berlin last weekend, Finnish minister Pekka Haavisto said he is “certain” that Finland and Turkey can agree on accession. Diplomats expect Turkey to be under heavy pressure from the US and NATO leadership.
Historic decision Sweden page 5
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of 17 May 2022