Russia warns of instability in Europe if Sweden, Finland join NATO

According to Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Sweden and Finland joining NATO will have instability repercussions in northern Europe.

In a statement, Zakharova explained how it is not a secret that largescale military drills took place in these countries. "The goal is to continue building up military potential and geographic expansion, to create another flank for threats to Russia. And it's unclear why our Finnish and Swedish neighbors in the Baltic region need to turn into a new frontier of confrontation between the NATO bloc and Russia."

The Spokeswoman elaborated that the negative consequences for peace and stability are "obvious".

Zakharova warned that by joining NATO, the two would not benefit from increased national security and would instead find themselves "on NATO's front line."

However, this trend has emerged long before the current situation, when the EU member states, including its non-bloc countries, gradually turned into an instrument dutifully following the destructive attitudes of the United States and NATO, she added.

The Spokeswoman added that Sweden and Finland should be well aware of the repercussions that NATO membership entails in regard to bilateral relations with Russia and how it would hinder European security, adding that the membership would not increase the international prestige of the nations and noting that by entering the alliance, the two will risk losing the opportunity of being "conductors of many constructive, unifying initiatives" as they have in the past.