Russia: We will respond to Finland's accession to NATO with a "surprise"

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Moscow's reaction to Finland's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) would be a surprise.

Zakharova was commenting, in press statements, on the delivery by the ambassadors of Finland and Sweden of the two letters of request for membership in the alliance, in a ceremony held at its headquarters in Brussels, according to "Sky News Arabia".

"This is a historic moment that we must seize," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, referring to the move that angered Moscow.

But Turkey surprised its allies in the past few days by saying it will block the Nordic members from joining unless they do more to crack down on Kurdish militants on their soil.

Stoltenberg said he believed the problem could be overcome, and Washington also said it expected it to be resolved.

Finland, which shares a 1,300 km border with Russia and Sweden, did not enter into military alliances during the Cold War, and their decision to join the Western alliance represented the biggest change in European security in decades.

This would double NATO's land border with Russia and give the alliance control of almost the entire Baltic Sea coast.

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