Putin says Finland and Sweden can 'go ahead' and join NATO, but warned the countries against hosting the alliance's 'military contingents and infrastructure'

Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Sweden and Finland could "go ahead" and join NATO if they wished to.

Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images

• Putin said this week that Finland and Sweden can "go ahead" and join NATO if they wish.
• However, he warned the countries against hosting NATO infrastructure.
• Putin said Russia would "respond in kind" if NATO military contingents were deployed in the countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on Wednesday that Sweden and Finland could join NATO if they wished, but warned that Russia would "respond in kind" if either country played host to the alliance's military forces or infrastructure.

According to Reuters, Putin made these comments to Russian state media while commenting on NATO's formal invitation to the two countries to join the alliance.

"With Sweden and Finland, we don't have the problems that we have with Ukraine. They want to join NATO, go ahead," Putin told Russia's state media, per Reuters. 

"But they must understand there was no threat before, while now if military contingents and infrastructure are deployed there, we will have to respond in kind and create the same threats for the territories from which threats towards us are created," he added. 

Reuters reported that Putin then went on to say that Russia's relationship with both countries would be subject to some new "tensions" if they joined the alliance.

"Everything was fine between us, but now there might be some tensions, there certainly will," Putin said. "It's inevitable if there is a threat to us."

Putin's latest comments come after repeated warnings from the Russians to Finland and Sweden on joining NATO. In April, Russia threatened that such a move would force it to "restore military balance" in the Baltic regions. 

The two Scandinavian countries are now slated to make bids to join the alliance after Turkey dropped its objections to the countries joining the alliance. Turkey, Finland, and Sweden have since signed an agreement to let the membership process proceed, signaling an imminent end to the two countries' neutrality in Europe.

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