Russia accuses Finland of ‘pushing above its weight’ if it decides to join NATO 

Russia has accused Finland of ‘pushing above its weight’ as the country signalled its intention to join NATO.

Putin’s EU ambassador vowed to bolster defences on the Russia and Finland’s shared 800-mile-long border if it decided to join the alliance.

Vladimir Chizhov said if Finland joined it would lead to ‘certain military-technical measures, like improving or raising the degree of defence preparations along the Finnish border’.

A move would ‘certainly necessitate rethinking of Russian defence posture’ but not ‘necessarily [involve] troops and tanks, but certain preparations like radars, perhaps’, he told Sky News.