esident Vladimir Putin speaks with Director General of Rossiya Segodnya media group Dmitry Kiselyov during an interview in Moscow, Russia, om March 12
Credit: Reuters Photo
President Vladimir Putin said in remarks published on Wednesday that Finland and Sweden's entry into NATO is "a meaningless step" and that Russia will deploy troops and systems of destruction to the Finnish border following Finland's accession to the alliance last April.
"This is an absolutely meaningless step (for Finland and Sweden) from the point of view of ensuring their own national interests," Putin told Russia's RIA state news agency and Rossiya-1 state television in a wide-ranging interview.
"We didn't have troops there (at the Finnish border), now they will be there. There were no systems of destruction there, now they will appear," he said.