Finnish President plans to call Putin

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said he plans to call Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss “the changed situation.”

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Earlier Thursday, Niinistö and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, in a joint statement, called for the country’s immediate NATO membership.

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Finland’s entry into NATO will entail the development of measures by Russia to ensure its security, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, told reporters earlier. On Friday, he said that Putin had discussed with the permanent members of the Russian Security Council the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine, as well as the potential threats from the decision of Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

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Russia has repeatedly noted that NATO is aimed at confrontation. Peskov stated that further expansion of the alliance would not bring greater security to Europe, NATO has an aggressive character. At the same time, he noted that he did not consider the possible entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO an existential threat to Russia.