MOSCOW.- The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistohad a telephone conversation today with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putinin which he formally expressed his decision to request joining NATO “in the next few days”, a decision that the Russian president considered “a mistake”. Hours before, Russia stopped supplying electricity to Finland under the justification of non-payments in the electricity supply.
“The conversation was direct and blunt and went off without a hitch. Avoiding tensions was considered important”, said in a statement the Finnish head of state, who has become an interpreter between borders for being one of the leaders who knows Putin best.
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The Kremlin leader considered that “reject the traditional policy of military neutrality [de Finlandia] It would be a mistake, since there are no security threats” from the country.
“This change of course in the foreign policy of the country could have a negative effect on relations between Russia and Finlandwhich have been built over many years in a spirit of neighborhood and associative cooperation and have a mutually beneficial character”, detailed an official statement from Moscow.
Both the Finnish president and the prime minister of that country, sanna marinhave been in favor of joining the Western military alliance and it is expected that the official candidacy will be presented on Sunday.
The decision is a direct consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, since Finland shares more than 1,300 kilometers of land border with Russia., a neighbor who is no longer considered harmless. Sweden is likely to follow in the footsteps of the Nordic country in the days to come.
Putin and Niinisto also discussed the situation in Ukraine, the Kremlin press service reported.
Putin noted that negotiations between Moscow and kyiv have practically stopped because the Ukrainian side would not be interested in a productive dialogue. “Putin shared the estimates on the state of the negotiation process between the Russians and the Ukrainians that was practically interrupted by kyiv, which shows no interest in a serious dialogue”is read in text.
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prior to communication, Russia suspended electricity exports to Finland from Friday to Saturday nighthours after the announcement in this regard made by the Russian energy supplier.
The company responsible for the importance of Russian electricity in Finland, RAO Nordic, with 100% of its Russian capital, had announced on Friday that the supply was going to be suspended due to defaults since May 6, about which no further details were given. .
Russian exports to Finland “are currently equal to zero”, clarified Timo Kaukonen, responsible for the operations of Fingrid, the Finnish operator.
Finland imports 10% of the electricity it needs from Russia. The network works thanks to the importance of Sweden, according to real-time information from Fingrid, which announced on Friday that it could perfectly well do without Russian electricity.
The call between Putin and Niinisto on the same day that the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden are scheduled to meet today with their NATO counterparts in Germany at an informal summit to discuss joining the Alliance.
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In this regard, the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogana NATO member, said yesterday that the country would be reluctant to welcome them into the largest open military alliance.
This morning, however, a spokesman for the president affirmed that this does not mean that he will veto the accession. “We are not closing the door. But basically we are raising this issue as a national security issue for Turkey,” Ibrahim Kalin, who is also the president’s top foreign policy adviser, told Reuters.
Finland’s 73-year-old president has become a vital figure in the Ukraine war as the interpreter between East and West, explaining the other’s thinking to each side of the conflict.
“They ask me for my opinion on a lot of things, and I try to be useful”Niinisto said, quoted by New York Times. “They know that I know Putin. And the same thing happens to me with the Russians, because Putin sometimes calls me and asks me to pass on a message to my Western friends.”
Considered the right person to understand what is going on in Putin’s head, Niinisto defends Finland’s accession to NATO despite Moscow’s refusal, since he trusts the Finnish artillery and considers it his country’s right to join the military alliance.
AFP, AP and DPA Agencies
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