While Russia does not see Finland and Sweden’s decision to join NATO as a threat, deployment of military infrastructure there may trigger a response from Moscow, President Vladimir Putin warned on Monday.

The NATO membership of the Nordic nations poses “no direct threat for us … but the expansion of military infrastructure to these territories will certainly provoke our response”, Putin said during a televised summit meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Moscow-led military alliance.

A Russian official also warned the West it will not “simply put up” with NATO’s expansion near its borders.