Putin: Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO to provoke response from Russia

NATO goes beyond its geopolitical policy and tries to influence politics in other regions, President Vladimir Putin said, as quoted by Report.

"That fact must be taken into account," he said.

Russia, Putin said, had no problem with Finland or Sweden, so there was no direct threat from NATO enlargement, which included those countries.

"But the expansion of military infrastructure into this territory would certainly provoke our response. What that (response) will be - we will see what threats are created for us," Putin told the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.