Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton taunted Russian President Vladimir Putin over the growth of NATO, with Finland and Sweden trying to be part of. At the disclosing of her official portrait, Clinton added that Putin “brought this upon himself”.

Clinton, who returned to the State Department for the disclosing of her official portrait, took a jibe at Putin whereas touching upon America’s international coverage.

“Defending democracy in Ukraine, expanding NATO – just as an aside, too bad Vladimir, you brought it on yourself,” said the previous US SOS.

Finland and Sweden have been searching for NATO membership, particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. After Moscow’s invasion, the Russian president has cited Ukraine’s “flirtation” with NATO as a main purpose for membership.

“We always said, ‘people are not forced to join NATO. People choose and want to join NATO,’ stated Clinton. Hillary Clinton took office as the Secretary of State in 2009, under the Presidency of Barack Obama. During her time as SOS, Clinton worked towards “resetting” relations with Russia, which had been impacted by Russia’s attack on Georgia in 2008.

In 2012, Vladimir Putin accused Hillary of instigating protests which questioned the results of the Russian parliamentary election, in which Putin and his party emerged victorious.

Tensions between Clinton and Putin have always been high. A US Senate panel had also accused Moscow of interference in the 2016 Presidential Elections, where Clinton lost to Trump. The panel alleged that Russia was involved in order to help Trump win.