Tensions will rise' after Finland joins NATO

Tensions will rise" after Finland joins NATO, according to former British chief of the general staff, Lord Dannatt.

He has told Sky News he expects NATO to make deterrent deployments along the Finnish 810 mile border with Russia.
Western leaders must stress that NATO is purely a defensive pact, he said.

He explained: "Putin may well try and play it to his people that this is NATO expanding - technically that is correct - but why is it expanding? 
"Because there is a growing concern among countries like Finland and Sweden that Russia represents a threat to them and it is therefore not unreasonable that those two countries are seeking the overall protection of the NATO umbrella."

In response to the move, Russia has said it will strengthen its military capacity in western and northwestern regions, the state-owned RIA news agency reported.
"There will be tensions and of course those tensions will rise, unsurprisingly but importantly, when at some point in the future other NATO countries make deterrent deployments in Finnish territory along the Russian border," said Lord Dannatt.

Finland brings "moral support" to NATO, rather than military capacity, he added.
He said the alliance itself is taking on additional liability, but it is the right thing to do and he is "personally pleased" it has happened.