Finland Officially Joins NATO Today, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister: We will Strengthen the Military to Ensure Security

NATO illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/US Department of State)

JAKARTA - Russia will strengthen its military capacity in the western and northwestern regions, in response to Finland's formal entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) this Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said according to a report by state news agency RIA.

Finland shares a 1.300 km (810 mi) border with Russia, which would roughly double the border of the trans-Atlantic alliance as it faces Moscow.

"We will strengthen our military potential in the west and northwest. If the troops and resources of other NATO members are deployed in Finland, we will take additional steps to ensure Russia's military security," Grushko told RIA, as reported by Reuters, April 4.

Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last year Russia was taking "adequate precautions" and would set up 12 units and divisions in the western military district.

As previously reported, Finland will officially become the 31st member of NATO on Tuesday, the country's presidential office announced Monday. This follows Turkey's approval of its Helsinki membership bid last Thursday, the final hurdle to entry into the alliance. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised the decision.

"We will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at NATO headquarters. It will be a good day for the security of Finland, for the security of the Nordics, and for NATO as a whole," he said in Brussels, Belgium, according to The National News.

The flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday afternoon will take place after Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, submits official accession documents to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is the 'custodian' of the NATO founding agreement.

Stoltenberg further said Finland's membership would double the length of NATO's land border with Russia. This goes against Russian President Vladimir Putin's goal of weakening the alliance, he said.

"(President) Putin went to war against Ukraine with the clear aim of reducing the number of NATO members," Stoltenberg said.

"He gets the opposite," he said.

Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO last year after Russia invaded Ukraine.