The Finnish president promoted an appeal informing the Russian leader of the accession in a “direct and blunt” conversation
The desire of the Finnish authorities to integrate the country into NATO has caused a deep crisis with Russia. Threats uttered from Moscow in recent days have been accompanied by warnings from President Vladimir Putin, who spoke by phone yesterday with his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinistö, to warn him that joining the Alliance would be a “mistake”. Shortly before that, the Russian operator had cut off the power supply to Finland.
According to the statement released by the Kremlin yesterday, after the telephone interview with the Russian and Finnish presidents, “Vladimir Putin emphasized that ending the traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake, as there is no threat to Finland’s security » .
The note also underlines that “such a change in political orientation could have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations, which have developed over years in a spirit of good neighborliness and cooperation, which is beneficial to both.” As for Ukraine, Putin assured that talks on cessation of hostilities are “practically suspended by Kiev, which shows no interest in constructive and serious dialogue”.
The initiative to make the appeal came from the Finnish president, according to whose cabinet the goal was to “inform” Putin about the Nordic country’s decision to join the Atlantic Alliance following the “massive invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022 , which has changed the security environment in Finland.” The Finnish Presidency noted that “the conversation was direct, uncomplicated and smooth with the main aim of avoiding tensions”.
Commenting on the conversation between the two leaders, the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mijailo Podoliak, stated that “Russia is finally tired of the whole world, its threats to no one have had any effect. NATO’s borders extend to the outskirts of St. Petersburg. For example, Niinistö’s conversation with the Russian president can be translated from diplomatic language to ordinary language. Welcome to the new reality, Mr Putin.”
On Thursday, after the Finnish government announced its willingness to join the Alliance, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov described the initiative as a “threat”, while the former president and current number two of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, waved the ghost. of a “nuclear war”. “Russia will be forced to retaliate, both technical-military and of any other type, to contain the threats to its national security posed in this regard,” a statement from the defense ministry continued. Foreign.
Coincidentally, Russia cut off electricity from Finland yesterday, which makes up 10% of what it consumes. Russian operator Inter RAO motivated the decision on the fact that Helsinki has not paid the corresponding invoice for a week and confirmed that this situation will continue “as long as the problems in receiving payments are not resolved”.
After restricting electricity imports from Russia, prices in Finland have doubled and some analysts do not rule out the possibility that, given the situation, the Scandinavian country will completely give up Russia’s energy supply, which had not been interrupted in more than 20 years.
The Russian daily Kommersant notes that Finland is phasing out energy cooperation with Moscow due to deteriorating relations with Russia. The same newspaper cites the case of the termination of the contract with the Russian nuclear consortium Rosatom for the construction of the Finnish nuclear power plant Hanhikivi-1 and the refusal to pay in rubles for gas supplies, as Putin demands. The Finnish daily Iltalehti believes that Russia is about to cut off natural gas to Finland because it does not meet the requirement to pay the bill in Russian currency.
Source: La Verdad
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