Russia Issues Nuclear Warning to New NATO Member

A Russian ambassador had harsh words for Finland on Saturday, warning that the country would retaliate against the new member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if nuclear weapons were placed on Finnish soil.

Finland is one of the newest European countries to join the military alliance, being officially welcomed into the fold in April 2023. The Nordic nation was spurred to seek membership by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2023 and its increased threats of aggression against other nations. Sweden is the latest country admitted to NATO for this reason, joining on March 7.

Both nations announced that they were considering applying for membership in May of 2022, only a few months after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russia has long viewed NATO as an antagonistic force, given the influence of founding members like the United States and the United Kingdom. NATO members are also obliged to provide military aid to other members in the event of an attack, meaning that Russia risks a much larger conflict should it take action against the likes of Finland.

In a statement released Saturday via an interview with the state-run news agency, Tass, Pavel Kuznetsov, the Russian ambassador to Finland, said that the relationship between the two nations cannot go back to the way it used to be.

“Sooner or later, the relationship between the two neighbors will be restored. That’s not going to happen as quickly as we might want though,” the ambassador said. “Everything here will depend not so much on Helsinki, which has largely lost its independence in making decisions on foreign policy, but rather on the general policy course being pursued by Washington and Brussels toward Russia. In any case, there will be no return to the previous format of cooperation now that Finland has joined the aggressive military bloc [of NATO].”

Kuznetsov also warned Finland that Russia would respond should any NATO-backed nuclear weapons be placed on Finnish soil.

“Of course, we cannot but respond to potential decisions by the Finnish government in this sphere. Specific steps will be developed depending on real threats that these actions will pose to our security,” he added. “The Finns cannot but realize that such a major provocation will not be left without a Russian response. However, we expect that common sense would prevail.”

Newsweek reached out to the government of Finland via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced Finland’s decision to become a NATO member last month, calling the neighboring country’s accession a “senseless step” that had forced him to send weapons to the border during an interview with Russia state television propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov, according to European Pravda.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo addressed the European Parliament in March, telling his allies that Russia was “not invincible” and urged them to rise to the “challenge” of supporting Ukraine and diminishing Moscow as a long-term threat to Europe.

“Russia continues to commit war crimes in Ukraine,” he said. “Russia is evidently preparing for a long conflict with the West and represents a permanent and existential military threat to Europe. If we, as a united Europe, fail to respond sufficiently to this challenge, the coming years will be filled with danger and the looming threat of attack. We must pledge our support to Ukraine now for it to win this war, and at the same time enhance our own defense capabilities.”