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Russia said on Wednesday that it could retaliate with military measures if NATO uses Finland's territory.
The warning came from Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who was commenting on a report that the U.S. military may place troops on Finnish bases.
On Monday, Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki News) reported that Finnish Foreign Affairs Ministry official Mikael Antell said discussions on a new defense cooperation agreement between Helsinki and Washington may allow for the construction of new military infrastructure on Finland's soil.
Antell told the paper that the agreement would not only augment Finland's recent NATO membership but could also result in American soldiers being deployed to bases near Russia's border with Finland.
"We are closely following NATO's plans regarding Finland," Zakharova said during a news briefing, according to Tass, the Russian government's news agency. "We confirm that Russia will be forced to take retaliatory measures of both military-technical and other nature to curb threats to our national security that appear in this connection."
Zakharova added that Moscow sees any plans regarding U.S. troops in Finland as Helsinki's loss of sovereignty.
"However, both Finland itself and NATO must realize that pumping Northern Europe with troops will only contribute to growing military and political tensions in this region as well," she said.
Juhana Aunesluoma, a professor of political history at the University of Helsinki, told Newsweek that he's not surprised by Zaharova's words.
"They have been talking like this for more than a year now, so no news on that front. The whole concept is (most likely purposefully) vague, and no one knows what it means, probably including the Russians," Aunesluoma wrote in an email. "This is basically standard Zaharova, and it would be news if some other formulations appeared."
Finland officially became a member of NATO in early April. The nation's admittance to the alliance was perceived by many observers as a major setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has said on multiple occasions that one of his objectives for his war in Ukraine was to prevent the expansion of NATO on Russia's borders.
Before Finland joined NATO, five NATO countries shared borders with Russia or the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Those countries accounted for roughly 754 miles of shared borders with Russia.
Finland, meanwhile, shares 830 miles of borders along northwestern Russia. With Finland becoming a member of the alliance, NATO officially increased its total amount of shared borders with Russia to 1,584 miles.
Even before Zakharova's Wednesday comments about taking "military-technical" measures in response to NATO plans for Finland, Russia had said it would increase its military presence along its borders with Finland.
Speaking to the Kremlin-operated news outlet RIA Novosti soon after it was announced that Finland was admitted into NATO, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that "seas of the measures have already been announced" as a result.
"We will strengthen our military capabilities in the western and northwest direction. If the forces and means of other NATO members are deployed on the territory of Finland, we will take additional steps to ensure Russia's military security," Grushko said.
When contacted by Newsweek, a spokesperson for Finland's foreign ministry declined comment.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email for comment.
Update 05/05/23 10:20 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include comments from Juhana Aunesluoma.
About the writer
Jon Jackson is a News Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more