Finland joins NATO in major blow to Russia over Ukraine war
The HinduFinland joined the NATO military alliance on April 4, dealing a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a historic realignment of Europe's post-Cold War security landscape triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I’m tempted to say this is maybe the one thing that we can thank Mr. Putin for because he once again here precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia’s aggression, causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their own defense and to make sure that they can deter possible Russian aggression going forward,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said before accepting the documents that made Finland’s membership official. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent his congratulations to Finland, writing on Telegram that “amid Russian aggression, the Alliance became the only effective guarantee of security in the region.” Russia warned it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures” to address what it called security threats created by Finland’s membership. In Stockholm, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson congratulated Finland and said he believed it would improve Sweden’s security but added that “it’s no secret that we would like to have concluded it hand-in-hand.” Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow “will be forced to take military-technical and other retaliatory measures to counter the threats to our national security arising from Finland’s accession to NATO”.