NATO's newest member, Finland, will be the first country impacted by any escalation in tensions between Moscow and the alliance, a top Russian diplomat has warned.
Mikhail Ulyanov, permanent representative of Russia to international organizations in Vienna, said that Finland's NATO accession in April after decades of non-alignment, made it vulnerable should hostilities break out between the security bloc and Moscow.
Finland 's decision to join NATO was spurred by the regional threat posed by Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The accession has angered Moscow, which Helsinki has accused of stoking a migrant crisis by sending refugees to its border. The Kremlin has denied such claims.
"I just don't understand how Finland benefits from this," Ulyanov told state news agency, RIA Novosti as he described how the neighbors had previously lived "peacefully."
He said that Moscow had traditionally viewed Finland as a "neutral and generally friendly country" with whom it had good ties, but NATO accession had prompted Moscow to take retaliatory steps—such as re-establishing the Leningrad and Moscow military districts.
Russia has also criticized a new defense agreement between Helsinki and Washington that will give the U.S. military access to the Finnish border area with Russia.
"God forbid, if there is any aggravation, then Finland itself will be the first to suffer," he said, "I really wouldn't want that, of course."
In response, the Finnish foreign ministry told Newsweek in a statement that it was "aware of the comments made by Ulyanov" and that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had "significantly weakened the security environment in Europe."
"The weakened security environment is the reason behind Finland's decision to join NATO and enhance bilateral partnerships, which aim at strengthening Finland's own security," the statement said.
"This decision is not aimed against anyone, but reaction to Russia's war of aggression and its implications to European security environment. There is no direct military threat against Finland at the moment. Finland continues its strong support to Ukraine," it added.
In August 2022, Ulyanov was accused by Ukraine of pushing "genocidal" language following a post on social media in response to a U.S. military aid package for Kyiv that said "no mercy to the Ukrainian population."
He deleted the message and claimed his comments had been misinterpreted, instead saying they meant that the U.S. aid for Kyiv showed Washington had no mercy for the Ukrainian population because it only prolonged the conflict.
Tensions between Finland and Russia continue to grow. Earlier this month, Putin said in an interview that the West had taken Helsinki and "dragged it into NATO" despite all disputes between the neighbors having been "resolved long ago."
Putin told the Russian state broadcaster Russia 1 that he would concentrate military units in the regions bordering Finland and that "there were no problems, but now there will be."
However, Putin described as "complete nonsense" a warning by U.S. President Joe Biden that Russia would "keep going" if it wins the war in Ukraine, suggesting it could one day attack a NATO ally and so draw U.S. troops into conflict. Putin said Russia "has no reason, no interest, no geopolitical interest" to fight with NATO, whose charter states an attack on one member would be an attack on all.
Update 1/2/24, 10:39 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement from the Finnish foreign ministry.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
