Finnish President Sauli Niinisto spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday regarding the Nordic country's application for NATO membership, which is expected to be officially announced this weekend, his office said.

"The conversation was direct and straight-forward and it was conducted without aggravations. Avoiding tensions was considered important," Niinisto was quoted as saying in a statement by his office.

"The phone call was initiated by Finland."

Finland "wants to take care of the practical questions arising from being a neighbour of Russia in a correct and professional manner," Niinisto said.

The Finnish president and Prime Minister Sanna Marin had said on Thursday that they wanted the country to join NATO "without delay" and that a membership bid was expected to be announced on Sunday.

Moscow responded by saying it would "definitely" see Finnish membership as a threat and that Moscow would be "forced to take reciprocal steps, military-technical and other, to address the resulting threats".

Neighbouring Sweden, like Finland traditionally neutral, is also expected to announce its own membership bid in the coming days.

According to Helsinki, Niinisto told Putin "how fundamentally the Russian demands in late 2021 aiming at preventing countries from joining NATO and Russia's massive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have altered the security environment of Finland."

Already on Thursday, Niniisto had told Russia: "You caused this. Look in the mirror."

After Finland's NATO membership bid is officially announced on Sunday, it will be discussed by parliament on Monday.

Putin sees any end of Finnish military neutrality as 'mistake': Kremlin
Moscow (AFP) May 14, 2022 - Russia's President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto Saturday that Finland scrapping its military neutrality would be a "mistake", the Kremlin said.

"Putin stressed that the end of the traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake since there is no threat to Finland's security," the Kremlin said in a statement after a phone call between the two leaders.

Helsinki is expected to announce its NATO membership bid on Sunday.

"Such a change in the country's political orientation can have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations developed over years in a spirit of good neighbourliness and cooperation between partners," the statement added.

Both leaders also touched on the situation in Ukraine, where Russia has been leading a military operation since February 24.

Putin informed his counterpart on the status of Russian-Ukrainian talks, which he said had been "near suspended by Kyiv, which expresses no interest in constructive and serious dialogue", the Kremlin added.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

NATO membership would deter conflict: Swedish review
Stockholm (AFP) May 13, 2022
Swedish membership in NATO would reduce the risk of conflict in northern Europe, a security policy review by parties in Sweden's parliament said Friday, with the government expected to decide on whether to apply in the next few days. "Swedish NATO membership would raise the threshold for military conflicts and thus have a deterrent effect in northern Europe," the report presented at a press conference in Stockholm said. The report stopped short of offering a concrete recommendation on which path ... read more