Putin tells Finland that swapping neutrality for NATO is a mistake
(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin advised his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto on Saturday that ditching neutrality and becoming a member of NATO can be a mistake that would harm relations between their two nations, the Kremlin mentioned.
The 2 nations mentioned their presidents spoke by telephone two days after Finland declared its intention to hitch the Western alliance. Moscow has described that as a safety menace that may require it to reply, however has not specified how.
Niinisto’s workplace mentioned he advised Putin “how essentially the Russian calls for in late 2021 aiming at stopping nations from becoming a member of NATO and Russia’s huge invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have altered the safety setting of Finland”.
He mentioned Finland needed to deal with relations with its Russian neighbour in a “appropriate {and professional} method”.
The Kremlin mentioned: “Vladimir Putin careworn that abandoning the normal coverage of army neutrality can be a mistake, since there are not any threats to Finland’s safety. Such a change within the nation’s overseas coverage could have a destructive affect on Russian-Finnish relations.”
Moscow described the decision as a “frank trade of views”, usually a diplomatic euphemism for a troublesome dialog.
Niinisto mentioned: “The dialog was direct and simple and it was performed with out aggravations. Avoiding tensions was thought-about essential.”
Finland’s membership bid is anticipated to be adopted by an analogous transfer from Sweden, confronting Putin with precisely what he mentioned he needed to keep away from when he launched his invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24: an extra growth of NATO to Russia’s borders.
(Extra reporting by Essi Lehto; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Enhancing by David Clarke)
