HELSINKI (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out Monday at plans to expand NATO eastwards and said only a ``sick mind'' could believe Moscow posed an aggressive threat to European security.(Read photo caption below)
``I underline that we don't see any objective reason for the Baltic states to become members of NATO,'' Putin told a news conference on his first state visit to Finland. ``We are not glad about this. We think it is a mistake,'' he stressed at a news conference with Finnish President Tarja Halonen.
Putin said expanding the western alliance would not solve a single problem in Europe's current security environment.
``Only in a sick imagination could one think that some aggressive elements could ... emerge from Russia,'' he said.
Putin made the remarks on the second day of his visit to non-aligned Finland, which is not seeking to join NATO but insists that the door to the western alliance must remain open and that states have a right to decide whether to join.
Former Soviet Baltic republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all aim to join NATO but Russia vehemently opposes enlargement of the transatlantic alliance to its doorstep.
Putin said it was up to the countries themselves to decide their defense policy, and Russia did not intend to fan any hysteria over the issue.
Halonen said she believed the Baltic states would eventually become full members of NATO. ``It's a matter of when,'' she said.
Putin praised Finland's example to its Baltic neighbors. ''Finland has in a magnificent way shown the benefits of neutrality over the decades,'' he said.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Russian President Vladimir Putin adjusts headphones during a news conference in Helsinki, September 3, 2001. Putin lashed out on Monday at plans to expand NATO eastwards and said only a "sick mind" could believe Moscow poses an agressive threat to European security. REUTERS/ITAR-TASS/KREMLIN PRESS SERVICE
- Sep 03 11:56 AM ET