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Finland has increased its military budget in recent years
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned his Finnish counterpart that it would be a “mistake” for Finland to join NATO and abandon its neutral status.
Putin told President Sauli Niinisto that there was no threat to Finland’s security.
This came during a phone call that the Finnish president had with his Russian counterpart on Saturday, ahead of an official request that Finland is expected to announce very soon.
Finnish President Niinisto said he told Putin how recent Russian moves, along with the invasion of Ukraine, “changed Finland’s security environment.”
“The conversation was direct and clear and was conducted without emotion. Avoiding tensions was important,” he said.
Sweden had also indicated its intention to join the Western alliance, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Finland shares a 1,300 km border with Russia. So far, it has stayed out of NATO to avoid antagonizing its eastern neighbor.
Putin did not make a specific threat of retaliation for the Finnish move, but the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that there would be retaliatory measures.
And the Russian company, RAU Nordic, had said that it would suspend electricity supplies to Finland starting next Saturday, justifying the decision by problems related to the payment of its financial dues.
The Russian company said it did not get paid for the electricity it delivered to Finland earlier.
However, Russia’s decision to suspend electricity supplies to Finland is seen as an early sign of these measures hinted at by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The director of the Finnish National Electricity Grid, Riema Baevinen, told the BBC that the Russian suspension of supplies had not caused any problems.
He explained that Russian imports represent only about 10 percent of the national supply, adding that they can be replaced from alternative sources.
He explained that “the absence of electricity imports from Russia will be replaced by increasing imports from Sweden and generating more electricity in Finland.”
The Finnish company stated that the demand for energy is declining due to the warm weather that has prevailed in the country in the recent period, amid expectations of an increase in electricity generation from wind energy in the coming period.
He also indicated that it is expected that a nuclear plant to generate electric power will be inaugurated and operated this summer, suggesting that it may produce more electricity than the supplies cut off by Russia.
picture released, Archyde.com
President Niinisto called his Russian counterpart Putin
After the phone call between Mr. Niinistö and Mr. Putin on Saturday, the Kremlin said the Russian leader stressed that “ending Finland’s traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake, because there is no threat to its security.”
“Such a change in the country’s political orientation could have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations, which have developed over the years in a spirit of good-neighbourliness and cooperation between partners,” he added.
NATO, a Western military alliance, was established in part to fend off the threat from the Soviet Union in 1949.
Putin had cited Ukraine’s intention to join NATO as one of the reasons for his country’s invasion of its neighbour.
Russia also warned Finland and Sweden last month against joining NATO, saying the move would not bring stability to Europe.
“The alliance remains an instrument aimed at confrontation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a statement issued regarding the two European neighbors’ warning to Moscow.
It came at a time when US defense officials said Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was a “fatal strategic mistake” that would likely lead to NATO expansion.
US administration officials have expected the northern European neighbors to apply for NATO membership, likely in June.
It is believed that Washington supports the move, which will see the number of NATO members increased to 32. US State Department officials said last week that discussions had taken place between NATO leaders and the foreign ministers of Helsinki and Stockholm.