Putin Warns Finland that Changing Neutrality for NATO Is A Big Mistake

Putin Warns Finland that Changing Neutrality for NATO Is A Big Mistake. 

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed his Finnish colleague Sauli Niinisto that abandoning neutrality and joining NATO would be a mistake that would harm their bilateral ties, according to the Kremlin.

Two days after Finland announced its decision to join the Western alliance, the two presidents talked by phone, according to the two nations. Moscow has labeled this as a security danger to which it will react but has not said how it would do so.

According to Niinisto’s office, he explained to Putin “how profoundly Russian demands in late 2021 aimed at stopping nations from joining NATO and Russia’s huge invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have affected the security situation of Finland.”

He said that Finland intended to conduct its ties with Russia “properly and professionally.”

According to the Kremlin: “Vladimir Putin said that adopting Finland’s historic policy of military neutrality would be a mistake since the country faces no security concerns. Moreover, a shift in the country’s foreign policy might be detrimental to Russian-Finnish ties.”

Moscow billed the call as a “frank exchange of ideas,” a diplomatic euphemism for an unpleasant discussion.

Niinisto explained: “The talk was direct and to-the-point, and it was carried out without a hitch. The need to avoid tensions was emphasized.”

Finland’s application is anticipated to be followed by one from Sweden, putting Putin in the position to deal with precisely what he declared he didn’t want when he started his invasion of Ukraine on February 24: a further extension of NATO to Russia’s borders.