STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s foreign ministry on Friday summoned Russia’s ambassador after Moscow threatened retaliatory measures if the Scandinavian country joined NATO.

Viktor Tatarintsev “is expected to come today” at Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom’s request, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. “We are an independent state and we make our own security policy decisions independently ... We do not accept threats and I have summoned the Russian ambassador to ask questions and get an explanation,” Wallstrom told journalists. She was reacting to comments by Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who said Moscow would take “retaliatory measures” if Sweden were to join NATO.