Shoigu said in a press statement, “The bombing threats from the US Air Force have increased more than 15 times in Europe during the past eight years.”
Shoigu added, “The threats on our northwest borders have escalated with the United States carrying out military exercises with the participation of 30 countries and more than 40,000 soldiers, and this raises the tension and threat to us.”
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden defended the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, saying that this step does not pose a threat to any party, in reference to Moscow, which is concerned that Helsinki and Stockholm will abandon military neutrality as long as they have adhered to it.
“We will defend the entire territory of NATO countries, because any attack on a member state is an attack on the alliance,” the US president said.
Like Biden, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö stressed that Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO does not pose a threat to any party, saying that the alliance will become stronger with the accession of the two countries.
In the same vein, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said, “I came here with (Finnish) President Niinistö (Washington) at a historic moment for our two countries,” adding that Sweden has been committed to non-military bias for two hundred years.
She stressed that Stockholm has chosen a new path, saying that the Russian operations in Ukraine were a wake-up call that woke up Stockholm, “Our government has concluded that the security of our country is better achieved under NATO membership.”
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