The Kremlin’s Dmitry Peskov has given one of his regular morning briefings by phone to journalists. In which he mentioned many pointers about Finland and Sweden joining NATO and how it would affect Russia, he said:
- Peskov said Finish's entry to Nato is “definitely” a threat to Russia. He said Finland had joined the unfriendly steps towards Russia taken by the EU, which was a matter of regret and a reason for a symmetrical response.
- The Kremlin spokesperson said everybody wants to avoid a direct clash between Russia and Nato, and that Nato expansion will not make the world or Europe more stable.
- Peskov said attacks on Russian regions bordering Ukraine means additional measures are needed to ensure the security of those regions.
Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, A Ukrainian commander in Mariupol has appealed directly to Elon Musk, asking the world’s richest man to intervene on behalf of those trapped by Russian forces in control of the southern city. Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine. Also, Ukraine claimed it has recaptured Pytomnyk, a village north of Kharkiv, about halfway to the Russian border. However, Finland’s president, Sauli Niinisto, is expected to give a green light on Thursday for the country to join the NATO military alliance, while Sweden is expected to do so in the coming days.