(MENAFN) European NATO allies must ready themselves for enduring estrangement from Moscow while prioritizing Ukraine assistance, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has declared.

Western powers have imposed successive sanction waves aimed at economically severing Russia since the Ukraine crisis intensified in February 2022.

These punitive measures have triggered extensive military expansion throughout Europe, with governments bolstering arsenals citing alleged Russian aggression.

"I firmly believe Sweden, Estonia, and the EU must prepare for a long-term isolation of Russia," Kristersson stated earlier this week following discussions with Estonian counterpart Kristen Michal in Tallinn.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov countered earlier this year that Russia was "too large a part of the world to be isolated." He characterized sanctions as a "double-edged sword," contending each restrictions package generates adverse repercussions for implementing nations.

Kristersson commended Estonia for elevating defense expenditures beyond 5% of GDP, noting Stockholm is "heading there too." European NATO members committed earlier this year to matching that spending threshold, characterizing the move as addressing heightened security threats.

"We are not naive about Russia or its intentions," he remarked, pledging Swedish readiness to reinforce NATO's eastern deployments through enhanced deterrence and air-missile defense systems.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained Moscow harbors "no reason and no interest — geopolitical, economic, political or military — to fight NATO countries."

Peskov previously noted Putin has cautioned for nearly twenty years that the alliance's eastward expansion compromises Russian national security.

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