Putin, new “military units” on the border with Finland. The response to Biden

Everything as expected. Vladimir Putin’s candidacy for the presidential elections to be held in exactly three months, announced in recent days, was welcomed with the unanimous support of his United Russia party, led by Dmitry Medvedev. The president promised his supporters that he will make Russia “a sovereign and self-sufficient power, otherwise it will no longer exist.” Putin has already been elected president four times: in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2018; the possibility of running again was made possible by the recent adoption of special amendments to the Constitution. The elections will last three days, as established by the Central Electoral Commission: from March 15th to 17th.

Russia, Putin said again according to what Russian agencies report, “cannot, like other countries, give up its sovereignty in exchange for some sausages to become someone’s satellite”, with a reference to the war in Ukraine. “Western countries – they attacked the “czar” – believed and believe that they are capable of instigating internal conflicts in our country. The methods of destabilization are well known and Western elites have tried them many times in many regions of the world during so-called ‘coups d’état’. These recipes did not work and, I am sure, will not work against Russia.”

In an interview, Putin also commented on neighboring Finland’s recent accession to NATO. The West “dragged” Helsinki into the Alliance, he said, announcing greater militarization of the more than 1,300 kilometers of border it shares with the Scandinavian country. “There will be no problems, because we will create a Leningrad military district and concentrate a certain amount of military units,” he said. Finland will sign an agreement with the United States tomorrow to allow them greater access to border areas. The restructuring of the Leningrad military district was already decreed on October 8th, and involves sending soldiers and increasing the militarization of the Russian border with Finland.

Putin also responds to the North American president, Joe Biden, who knows well that “Russia has no reason or interest, at a geopolitical, economic or military level, in fighting with the NATO countries”. The head of the Kremlin dismisses as “complete nonsense” the words with which the US president warned of the risk that Putin, if he is not detained in Ukraine, could attack a NATO country. “We have no territorial claims, nor any desire to ruin our relations with NATO countries.”