Two days after the Finnish government announced its support for the country’s accession to NATO, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss Finland’s imminent NATO bid, which has provoked Moscow’s misgivings. The official candidacy is expected to be presented on Sunday (15.5.2022).
“The conversation was direct and blunt and went smoothly. Avoiding tensions was considered important,” the Finnish head of state said in a statement.
For its part, the Kremlin also alluded through a statement to this telephone conversation: “Putin stressed that the renunciation of the traditional policy of military neutrality would be wrong, since there is no threat to the security of Finland,” reads the official Russian text.
The statement goes on to stress that a change in Helsinki’s foreign policy “may negatively influence Russian-Finnish relations, which for many years were characterized by a spirit of good-neighbourliness and cooperation between partners, and had a mutually beneficial aspect.”
On the other hand, the Kremlin stressed that the conversation had been “frank.” “In particular, Putin shared his vision of the negotiating process between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, which has been practically frozen by Kiev, which shows no interest in a serious and constructive dialogue,” the official note said.
“ATTEMPTed deployment of NATO nuclear weapons”
For his part, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Gruskoko has already warned about the possible deployment by NATO of nuclear weapons in Finland and Sweden, once both countries formally join NATO. “It is enough to look at the map to understand how important allied enlargement is for the security interests of the Russian Federation,” the minister said.
He admitted that, for the time being, the Atlantic Alliance has not changed its nuclear policy, but its secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, has affirmed that “nuclear weapons can be placed closer to the border of Russia and the Polish leaders assured that they are willing to receive them.” “If these statements are confirmed in practice, of course, we will have to react with the adoption of preventive measures that guarantee a safe deterrence,” the diplomat warned.
Despite the current Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Grushkó considered it “impossible” to suspect hostile intentions on the part of Russia against Finland and Sweden, accusations that he related to attempts to “demonize” Russia from the political and military point of view.
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