NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday that Finland will become a full member of NATO on Tuesday, and its flag will be raised at the alliance's military headquarters. Moscow plans to boost its military capabilities near the border with Helsinki.
Stoltenberg told a news conference on the eve of a meeting of NATO's foreign ministry that the bloc was looking forward to a "historic week", adding that Finland would be "a full member of the alliance from tomorrow". He noted that NATO "will raise the Finnish flag for the first time here at the alliance's headquarters" in an official ceremony.
The Secretary General pointed out that the NATO Foreign Ministers will first meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, in the Belgian capital, Brussels.
He added that after the war, NATO has to make arrangements so that Ukraine can "deter any aggression in the future."
Last week, the last obstacle to Finland's NATO membership was removed after the Turkish parliament voted to endorse Helsinki's request, but kept Sweden's application pending.
In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said his country would "strengthen its military capabilities in the west and northwest" on the borders with Eastern Europe and Finland.
Grushko added that if other NATO members deploy troops and capabilities on Finnish soil, "we will take additional measures to reliably ensure Russia's military security."
Russia said in March that it posed "no threat" to Finland and Sweden.
Russia sees NATO's expansion on its borders as a major threat to its security, and Kiev's ambition to join the alliance was one of the reasons Moscow justified its attack on Ukraine.