Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday May 16 that Finland's and Sweden's membership of NATO did not constitute "
a threat
" in itself, but that Russia would react to military deployments.
Read alsoNATO enlargement: “
Farewell to Finlandization
”
Such "
enlargement of NATO does not constitute an immediate threat (...) but the deployment of military infrastructures on the territories of these countries will of course lead to a response
", he said at a summit of a regional military alliance in the Kremlin.