Russian authorities warned yesterday of the possible consequences of sending US nuclear equipment to Northern Europe, ensuring that they would be considered “legitimate targets in the event of a confrontation” between Russia and NATO.
“You don’t need to be a military strategist to understand that this would pose a direct threat” to Russia, said the country’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.
“Naturally, [esses equipamentos] would inevitably be included in the list of legitimate targets in different direct collision scenarios”, he added.
The spokesperson, cited by the Russian news agency Interfax, stressed that the Finnish authorities “did not inform their citizens of the risks they would run if they allowed these installations to be placed” in the country following its accession to the Atlantic Alliance in April 2023. .
Zakharova criticized the words of Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who allowed a review of the country’s main “legislative lines, which currently prohibit the placement of military weapons on Finnish territory” and stated that “this [postura] worries Russia”.
“If this type of weapons appears in Northern Europe, the security of these countries will not only not increase but will clearly suffer a setback, because other countries on the continent (…) will have to take this into account,” he said.
Finland has the military alliance’s longest land border with Russia – 1,340 kilometers – and is one of the most active European providers of military and civilian aid to Ukraine.