N Korea denounces Sweden, Finland over NATO bids

North Korea's Foreign Ministry on Friday denounced Sweden and Finland for their expected applications to join the NATO and accused the US of political motives behind the move.

In a post on its website, the Ministry said that the NATO membership of the Nordic countries will only aggravate military confrontation with Russia and "upset" military balance in the Baltic Sea area, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"The above facts prove that the US and the West are taking the Ukrainian situation as a golden opportunity to compress the strategic space of Russia by tightening the encircling net around Russia," it argued.

The Ministry then warned that such moves by the US and other western nations will inevitably provoke stronger reaction from Russia.

Pyongyang's message came as the White House stated that Washington can "address any concerns either country may have about the period of time between a NATO membership application and the formal accession to the alliance".

In a separate statement, the ministry stressed that US sanctions against Russia have proven to be futile, saying that Moscow posted a current account surplus of $58 billion in the first quarter this year. (IANS)

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