US Reaches Agreements to Control Northern Europe: Zakharova

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the defense agreements the United States signed separately with Finland and Sweden recently will give Washington control over Northern Europe.

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"Now, Washington will essentially have control over the region. NATO is engaged in the rapid military development of the territories of the two countries, despite the fact that Sweden has not even joined the alliance yet," Zakharova said.

On Monday, the U.S. and Finland signed a defense cooperation agreement, enhancing military collaboration between the two countries by obligating Helsinki to open its military bases to U.S. forces and allowing the two militaries to conduct joint training, among other measures.

Earlier in December, the United States signed a defense agreement with Sweden, and Washington will sing a similar pact with Denmark later this week, according to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"We would like to warn that we will take all necessary measures to protect our national security interests," Zakharova said, noting that the U.S. will now receive maximum access to military facilities in Finland and Sweden, and will be able to use these for its own purposes.

On Thursday, Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, denounced that Washington is deliberately prolonging the Ukrainian conflict.

"Washington is pursuing a policy that seeks to prolong the Ukrainian conflict. For this, the U.S. is providing Ukraine with significant military assistance," he said, pointing out that major changes are underway, including the formation of "a new multipolar world," where "the hegemony of the United States and its allies is gradually coming to an end."

"Washington is striving to preserve the Western-centric world at all costs, to ensure global dominance and to maintain its ability to dictate its terms to other countries, suppressing their legitimate interests in the security sector," Gerasimov said.