Finland & Sweden's NATO membership will not improve European security, says Kremlin

Finland and Sweden’s possible accession into NATO would not elevate security in Europe but would le to “ditional tension”, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. In an interview with CNN, Peskov said, “We are sure that membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, it won’t bring any ditional benefits to security of European continent. On or hand, it will bring ditional tension."

Russian Presidential spokesperson’s remarks came as Finnish and Swedish ambassors submitted ir countries’ applications for NATO membership to alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg in May. But move faced opposition from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said that Ankara would not support both countries. 

Even Russian President Vlimir Putin h warned at summit of Collective Security Treaty Organization in Moscow that Russia would retaliate if NATO expanded to Finland and Sweden. But, Kremlin noted that Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership did not pose an immediate threat to Russia. 

Meanwhile, weighing in on Russian army’s plans in Ukraine as war between both nations entered its 114th day, Peskov said that  Moscow is planning on withstanding unilateral sanctions imposed by Western nations and completing goal in Donbas region. " number one goal is to protect people of Donbas and Luhansk from those who are shelling Donetsk, for example, right now, and killing civilians re. And have been doing that for last eight to nine years," he said.  

“As for or territories and regions of Ukraine, you know, more our military is cleaning up territory from those nationalistic regiments, more people are welcoming m and more people declaring ir desire to discontinue ir future life with modern regime in Kyiv,” he claimed. 

Russia-US ties at 'zero', no dialogue between both nations: Peskov

 Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has stated that bilateral relations between both countries stand at “zero”. He told RIA news agency that re was virtually no dialogue between Moscow and Washington. Earlier on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson h also noted that communication remains “essential” in ties with US as both countries have furr drifted apart since invasion of Ukraine. 

Image: AP