Russian Defense Minister Sergei Sergei Shoigu, in his opening remarks to a Russian Defense Ministry teleconference, warned, “The West’s willingness to invest a significant portion of available resources in Ukraine in order to turn the situation on the battlefield in its favor creates serious risks of further escalation of the conflict.”
“Threats to the military security of the Russian Federation have multiplied in the western and north-western strategic directions,” Shoigu said. “A serious destabilizing factor is the accession of Finland and, in the long term, Sweden to NATO. After Helsinki joined the alliance, Russia’s land border with the NATO countries almost doubled. Additional NATO military contingents and strike weapons are likely to be deployed on Finnish territory, capable of striking critical facilities in northwestern Russia at considerable depth.”
