Russian President Vladimir Putin's unusually calm response to the bids of Finland and Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization seems to have left many Western observers puzzled.
After the two Nordic states decided to join NATO on Sunday and Monday, Putin said in a security meeting in Moscow on Monday: Russia has no problem with these states none. There isn't a immediate threat to Russia from an expansion of NATO to include these countries, but the expansion of military infrastructure into this territory would certainly provoke our response. The composed response of Putin to the largest expansion of NATO in recent years, which will double the NATO-Russia border to more than 2,000 kilometers and expose the Northern Fleet of Russia and St Petersburg directly to NATO threats, should not be attributed to Finnish President Sauli Niinisto's phone call with Russian leader on Saturday, but rather Russia's objective assessment of the situation.
The Russian leader is aware of the dangers and warnings that will not deter Sweden and Finland from joining NATO. He observed that there were no tensions between the two Nordic countries and Russia at the same time, while the friction between Ukraine and Russia had been long simmering on a flame fueled by Washington.
Putin's response will be that we will see what threats are created for us, and should not fall on deaf ears.
Given that the North American expansion of NATO will extend the United States reach to the north of Russia for the first time in history and further expand its control over Europe under the name of protecting the continent's security, the move will unavoidably cause tensions in the region and cause Russia to take concrete actions to strengthen its security in the north, further putting NATO and Russia at each other's throat.
The irony is that NATO claims it is a defensive bloc, but it has never stopped expanding after the Cold War, and it is even casting a covetous eye at extending its reach beyond Europe as a claw of US hegemony under the pretense of security.
To avoid the pursuit of security igniting one powder keg after another, all stakeholders should discard any lingering Cold War mentality, respect each other's rational concerns, and try to build a lasting, balanced and effective security framework through dialogue and negotiation.
The pursuit of national security is best served by countries adopting a common, cooperative, and sustainable outlook on security.