“Today, Washington, through pressure, is forcing these countries that have maintained a political neutral position for many decades of not joining to the military blocs, to change their strategic direction and course,” she noted.

The discussion on Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intensified in early April, when most of that country’s members of Parliament came out in favor of joining to the alliance.

On May 15, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto announced that Helsinki would apply to join to the military bloc. On Monday, the Swedish Government also decided that the country would apply for membership of the military bloc.

On Monday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that NATO should have no illusions that Russia would simply accept Sweden and Finland’s membership to the alliance.

On May 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto that his country’s renunciation to the military neutral policy would be a mistake, as there are no threats to its security.

According to the Kremlin press service, during the telephone talk, the two leaders had a frank exchange of views regarding the Finnish leadership’s announced intention to apply for NATO membership.

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