Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that they will respond "symmetrically" to a military reinforcement from Sweden and Finland. "There is nothing that worries us regarding their entry into NATO," Putin assured in a speech after the Alliance's green light for the accession of the two Nordic countries. The Russian president has added that the situation in the Nordic countries is very different from that of Ukraine, since "they do not have any territorial conflict", however, he has warned that it will be "inevitable" that "tensions" exist.
During the negotiations prior to the start of the war on February 24, Putin had marked as red lines the resignation of NATO in the territories of Eastern Europe and the return to the pre-1997 limits, defending that NATO missiles in Ukraine they could reach Moscow "in minutes".
Putin has also denied that the Russian army attacked the shopping center in the Ukrainian town of Kremenchuk, an event that has left 18 dead. The president has defended that the Russian army does not attack "any civilian objective" and has attributed the blame to Ukraine. In addition, he has indicated that the Russian objectives are to take over the Donbass and "create the conditions that guarantee the security of Russia".
Later, speaking in Saint Petersburg, Putin said that the creation of a multipolar world is "irreversible".
