In a Telegram post, Slutsky, leader of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and chairman of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote that if he were in Turkey ‘s position, “I would not be flattered by the assurances I received. in exchange for not vetoing the accession of Finns and Swedes to NATO “, according to an English translation of his post by the state news agency TASS. Slutsky did not elaborate further on why Turkey should not “flatter” itself for the assurances it received in the agreement. “The accession of Finland and Sweden, in fact, to the forefront of the alliance and its rejection [their] “The status of the non-aligned will be the choice of these countries,” he added, according to the TASS translation. which is already in deep crisis “. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, both Sweden and Finland announced plans to apply for NATO membership, a defense military alliance that currently consists of 30 member countries. All Member States must support the accession of a new member in order for the application to be approved, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially said he would block offers from both Nordic countries due to security concerns focused on the alleged hosting of members. an organization that Turkey considers a terrorist group. However, Erdogan and his Finnish and Swedish counterparts met at a NATO summit in Madrid on Tuesday and agreed on a memorandum addressing Turkey’s security concerns. On Wednesday, NATO formally called on Finland and Sweden to join the Turkish-backed military alliance. Russian officials such as President Vladimir Putin have strongly opposed NATO expansion and warned both Sweden and Finland not to join its ranks. Putin even cited the prospect of NATO expansion as one of the reasons for the invasion of Ukraine. Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky warned Turkey on Wednesday that it should not “flatter” itself for the assurances it received in exchange for support for Sweden and Finland joining NATO. Above, Slutsky attends the funeral of Russian politician Vladimir Zirinovsky at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on April 8 in Moscow. Konstantin Zavrazhin / Getty Images Slutsky added in a post on Wednesday about Turkey’s stance on NATO that “it once promised Gorbachev,” ostensibly referring to former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev. Slutsky did not specify what he meant by the former USSR leader. Newsweek contacted the politician through the State Duma for clarification. NATO is stepping up its own security in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday that the number of NATO troops on high alert would more than double, the biggest boost since the Cold War. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III also announced Wednesday that the United States will deploy its first permanent force on the east side of NATO. Newsweek contacted the Turkish presidential office and the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.
