Lavrov assures that Russia will take “appropriate measures” to guarantee its security in the face of NATO expansion

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July 11 () –

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, announced on Tuesday that Moscow will take “appropriate measures” to guarantee its security in the face of the expansion of the Atlantic Alliance, of which Finland is already a part and of which Sweden is about to join thanks to the unblocking announced the day before by Turkey.

“We will draw conclusions depending on how quickly and how deeply NATO develops in the territory of Finland and Sweden,” said a Lavrov who already assumes that Helsinki and Stockholm are negotiating the deployment of NATO “infrastructure” near the border with Russia.

“I assure you that all the legitimate interests in the field of security of the Russian Federation will be guaranteed. Appropriate measures will be taken, we know what these measures are and how to put them into practice”, the Foreign Minister added at a press conference after meet his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi.

Likewise, the highest representative of Russian diplomacy has shown his astonishment at the speed with which, he considers, Finland and Sweden have put aside their historic neutrality to join the Atlantic Alliance, reports the Russian news agency TASS.

For Lavrov, the neutral position of both Scandinavian countries has given them “advantages” in recent decades, has guaranteed their independence and has helped them earn a “reputation and authority in the international arena both in Europe and in the rest of the world.” .

In fact, the Foreign Minister recalled that Finland and Sweden have unilaterally renounced the advantages they enjoyed in trade and economic relations with Russia, and regretted that Helsinki and Stockholm are advancing towards a “subordinate position” to the United States United and NATO.

Finally, Lavrov lamented that the two Scandinavian countries have forgotten “the times of the rise of Nazism in Europe” to now bow to the guidelines of the rest of the West, which orders “all countries to line up against Russia.”

“Unfortunately they have dutifully accepted this, but this is the election of those governments that received the votes of their constituents, therefore the people of the respective country will be the ones to judge how much this benefits Finland and Sweden,” he concluded.