Russia: No hostile intentions towards Sweden, Finland
Russia contends that it has no intention to aggress against the two countries, which will soon be joining NATO.
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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko. (TASS)
On Saturday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Russia harbors no hostile intentions against Finland or Sweden.
"All this fits into the all-too-common ‘search for an enemy’, which entails, in practical political [and] military sense, a demonization of Russia, assigning to [Russia] hostile intentions against some countries, while Russia absolutely cannot be suspected of such intentions, " the diplomat said.
Grushko admitted that Moscow has some questions in mind regarding the future of non-nuclear status in Finland and Sweden, both of which will be joining NATO very soon. Joining the alliance will require them to abandon the non-nuclear status.
Read more: Medvedev: Risks of a full-fledged nuclear war
"It is well known that Finland and Sweden were among those states that most actively advocated the prohibition and total destruction of the world's nuclear weapons. But the alliance has declared itself nuclear, saying it will remain nuclear as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world. These countries will participate in the NATO Nuclear Planning Group," Grushko told reporters.
Upon being asked about whether Russia would deploy its nuclear weapons to the Baltic region, Grushko said that it is "too early to talk about this issue."
Finland, Sweden possible targets if admitted to NATO: Russian envoy
Sweden and Finland would potentially become targets for the Russian military and force Moscow to take action if they are admitted to NATO, the Russian deputy representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky affirmed on Thursday.
During an interview with the YouTube channel UnHerd, Polyansky considered that “if there are NATO detachments in these territories [Finland and Sweden], these territories will become a possible target for a strike."
Russia will also have to make other military moves in the situation that the two countries join NATO, Polyansky noted, adding that Moscow is ready to face the threat of NATO.
Read more: Russia not to remain indifferent if Finland joins NATO
The Russian deputy envoy to the United Nations said he sees no diplomatic option for solving the situation in Ukraine, stressing that there was no way to prevent the operation.
"Nobody wants military activity and we would prefer another option. A diplomatic option. But there was no way to stop the war," Polyansky mentioned.
