Finland Downplays Turkey’s NATO Concerns, Informs Russia of Plan
- Finnish leader says Turkey objection won’t derail application
- Turkey depends on good relations with NATO members: Sweden
A soldier from Finnish Defence Forces during the Finnish Army Arrow 22 training exercise,, in Niinisalo, Finland, on May 4.
Photographer: Roni Rekomaa/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to say the Nordic country plans to seek NATO membership in the near future and downplayed concerns Turkey may block Finland and its Nordic neighbor Sweden from joining the military alliance.
The conversation with Putin “was direct and straight-forward and it was conducted without aggravations,” Niinisto said in a statement. The move would be a “mistake because there are no threats to Finland’s security,” Putin told his Finnish counterpart, according to a statement from the Kremlin, adding that it could harm relations between the countries.