Putin says Finland may face “problems” with Russia due to joining NATO

Russian President Vladimir Putin complained about Finland's accession to NATO, suggesting this would cause “problems” in bilateral relations.

Putin stated this in an interview with Russia’s prominent propagandist Pavel Zarubin, Ukrinform reports with reference to Radio Liberty.

According to Putin, before joining NATO, there were "no problems" in Finland's relations with Russia, and now those will emerge since Russia will concentrate a “certain amount of military units" near the borders with Finland.

He stated that Russia supposedly does not have any interest – be it geopolitical, economic, political, or military - to fight with NATO countries and is even "interested in developing relations" with the member states.

At the same time, he labeled the organization "a U.S. backyard". Putin also once again accused the leadership of Western democracies of seeking to "destroy Russia".

On December 6, in an address reflecting on the issue of further assistance to Ukraine in its war with Russia, U.S. President Joe Biden put forward the argument that in the future Russia may attack U.S. allies within NATO. Biden appealed to Congress to approve the administration's national security supplemental funding request, involving aid to Ukraine, pointing out that, if Putin continues his advance, after swallowing Ukraine, he will attack a NATO country.

And if that happens, “we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops,” Biden warned, recalling a pledge to defend “every inch” of NATO territory.

Putin decried the statement as "nonsense", claiming that, in his opinion, Biden is also aware of this.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Finland officially became a member of NATO in April 2023.