the russian president Vladimir Putin accused NATO of “imperial ambitions”. The military alliance is trying to assert its “supremacy” through the conflict in Ukraine, Putin told reporters in the Turkmen capital of Ashkhabad on Wednesday. “Ukraine and the well-being of the Ukrainian people are not the collective goal of the West and NATO, but a means of defending their own interests.”
Russia “has no problem” with Finland and Sweden’s planned NATO membership, Putin said. “We don’t have problems with Sweden and Finland like we have with Ukraine.” There are no “territorial differences” between the two countries, the Kremlin chief said. “There’s nothing to worry about with Finland and Sweden joining NATO. If you want, please.”
Get ready for a reaction
In the event of a threat to Russia, however, countries would have to prepare for a reaction. “They need to have a clear picture of the fact that there have been no threats to them before – but if troops are stationed there and infrastructure is installed, we will have to respond in a mirrored way and create the same threats in the territory from which we are being threatened. “, Putin told the Tass news agency. “All was well between us, but now there will be some tension – this is obvious, without a doubt, it cannot be done without.” The membership of Finland and Sweden was officially launched at the NATO summit on Wednesday.
Putin argued that Finland and Sweden’s membership of NATO would be very different from Ukraine’s membership. The thesis that Russia fought against Ukraine’s admission to NATO and thus triggered the enlargement to Finland and Sweden is unfounded. The West has tried to turn Ukraine into an “anti-Russia” from which its country was to be destabilized and where Russian culture was fought, Putin said. This does not exist in Finland and Sweden.
Putin denies responsibility for Kremenchuk
The Russian head of state also denied responsibility for the attack on a shopping mall in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, which killed 18. “Our army does not attack any civilian infrastructure. We are perfectly capable of knowing what is where,” he said.