STOCKHOLM, Sweden—Russia has warned Finland not to join the NATO alliance, according to the Finnish radio station YLE.
Juli Kvitsinky, Deputy Chair of the legislative council of the Duma’s Foreign Policy Committee, says such a move would damage bilateral relations. “Duma” is the term given to the equivalent of Russia’s parliament.
Kvitsinky said in an interview given to YLE that Russia regards NATO as an instrument of US foreign policy. Finnish membership in the alliance would place the country in a standoff between superpowers, he said.
He also said the move may spark military, political, and economic responses from Russia.
According to YLE, a similar warning was issued last spring by Dimitri Rogozin, the Russian ambassador to NATO.
