Russia Threatens to Retaliate Against Finland for Joining NATO

HELSINKI, Finland – Russia is threatening military and other measures after Finland joined NATO this week. Vladimir Putin is nervous because it ends Finland's era of military non-alignment and doubles the length of NATO's shared border with Russia.

The 31st flag has been raised in front of NATO headquarters in Brussels, to celebrate Finland officially becoming the newest member of NATO. As a result, NATO nations now stretch 800 miles along Russia's border. It also means the NATO alliance has more than 60% of the world's combined military power.

"This is truly a historic day," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. "And I'm tempted to say this is may be the one thing we can thank Mr. Putin for, because he once again here has precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia's aggression, causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their own defense and to make sure that they can deter possible Russian aggression going forward."