“Putin is preparing for a long conflict with the West”

The Russian President announced that he would increase troops on the border with Finland. He mentions his nuclear arsenal again. No one in Helsinki is surprised.

Vienna/Helsinki/Moscow. Farther north, Kremlin President Vladimir Putin's geostrategic nightmare has become a reality. As NATO expanded to include Finland and Sweden, Russia's borders with NATO doubled in one fell swoop. A few days before the Russian presidential elections, Putin announced in an interview with state radio Russia 1 that he would increase troops on the border (about 1,300 km long) with Finland in response to NATO expansion.

'A useless step'

Putin described the recent joining of NATO by the Finns and Swedes as a “meaningless step”: “We get this one.” (on the Finnish border, note) There are no troops, there will be some troops there now. There were no destroyed systems there, and now they are being transferred there.” Relations between Moscow and Helsinki were “perfect.” The Kremlin chief did not mention that it was Putin’s attack on Ukraine that pushed the non-aligned Finns and Swedes into the arms of NATO.