Finland, on Tuesday, officially became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
The Western military alliance was a historic policy shift brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, as Western allies strengthen ties, Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said in an interview published on Tuesday, that Russia may get “tough” with a hostile European Union.
Finland’s accession roughly doubles the length of the border that NATO shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in sight.
Finnish Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, completed the accession process by handing over an official document to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, welcoming Finland to its ranks, noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had cited opposing NATO expansion as one justification for his invasion.
“He is getting exactly the opposite… Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full-fledged member of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels.
Reacting to the development, Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, on Tuesday, said that Finland’s accession to the NATO military alliance and NATO’s move to increase its own combat readiness increased the risk of conflict.
Shoigu also said that some Belarusian military jets were now capable of carrying nuclear warheads and that Iskander rocket systems had been transferred to Belarus, which could be used to carry conventional or nuclear missiles.