Russian officials have now threatened ''serious military-political repercussions'' for Finland and Sweden if they make a move to join NATO.
The remarks came at a briefing on Friday from Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
''Finland and Sweden should not base their security on damaging the security of other countries, and their accession to NATO can have detrimental consequences and face some military and political consequences,'' she said in a translated video clip shared on Twitter.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Russia also tweeted Zakharova's threat.
''We regard the Finnish government's commitment to a military non-alignment policy as an important factor in ensuring security and stability in northern Europe,'' the tweet, posted just before noon Eastern time, read.
''Finland's accession to @NATO would have serious military and political repercussions.''
Russia had asserted that Ukraine's desire to join NATO was a pretext for building forces on the Ukraine border months before Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to engage a ''special military operation'' — which NATO alliance members consider a ''full-scale invasion'' of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
Ukraine voted for its independence when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.
''This goes far beyond Ukraine,'' NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday of Russia's invasion. ''This is about how Russia is actually challenging, contesting core values for our security. Then warning that NATO should withdraw all forces and infrastructure from almost half of our members.
''If [Putin] did move into NATO countries, we will be involved. We will be involved.''
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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