Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that Finland’s entry into NATO this year would create “problems” and announced a troop build-up on its northwestern border in an interview broadcast on Russian public television on Sunday, Reuters and AFP reported.

• “There were no problems there, but now there will be, because we will create the Leningrad Military District and concentrate a certain number of units there,” Putin said in an interview.

The leader of the Kremlin accused that it was the Westerners who “accustomed Finland to NATO” in conditions where “all disputes, including territorial ones from the middle of the 20th century, have long been resolved.”

Relations between Russia and Finland, which share a 1,340-kilometer border, have soured significantly since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, prompting Finland to join NATO in April.

On Thursday, Finland again announced the complete closure of its border with Russia, hours after reopening two crossing points, accusing Moscow of encouraging migrants to pass through, a charge the Kremlin denies. (Source: Agerpres)