There’s “no panic” in Helsinki over any potential “nasty” response from Russia, says minister for European affairs
Helsinki could strengthen NATO and provide a wealth of benefits. “added value”In an interview on Sky News Saturday, Tyti Tuppurainen claimed that the US-led military alliance had ruined Finland’s Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering.
Finland’s push for NATO membership, which has been reinvigorated amid the Ukrainian crisis, is “about our own resistance”The freedom and dignity of “national movement maneuver,” Tuppurainen said. She admitted that it’s been known “for years that the Kremlin is not in favor of NATO enlargement,”However, he claimed that the move was not meant to provoke confrontation with Moscow.
“We are prepared for all kinds of ill will and nasty measures against us. There is absolutely no need to panic. We are not afraid,” Tuppurainen said.
“We have a very strong conscript army. We have just made the decision to buy 60 F-35 fighters, and we are well equipped, and we will be a resource to the alliance,”She added.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto. In the call, Niinisto informed Putin that his country will soon make a decision to join the US-led military bloc.
Putin warned that Helsinki’s move to abandon its “traditional policy of military neutrality”It would be an “mistake,”Stressing the fact that there was “no threats to Finland’s security.”This is the move “may have a negative impact”On “mutually beneficial”He described the relationship between them.
According to media reports, Finland’s neighbour, Sweden is considering NATO membership and may file its application by Monday.
Moves by Finland and Sweden to join NATO won’t be left without a response, according to Russia’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Glushko, but it’s premature to talk about measures which could include the relocation of nuclear weapons closer to the two Nordic countries.
Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. French- and German-brokered protocol were intended to confer special status on the Ukrainian state’s breakaway regions. The breakaway Donetsk republic claims Mariupol as an integral part its territory.
In recent years, the Kremlin demands that Ukraine declares itself to be neutral so that it can join NATO. Kiev claims that the Russian invasion was unprovoked. It also denies any plans to take the republics with force.
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