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Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto that it would be a “mistake” for Finland to join NATO, according to a Kremlin statement.
The two leaders spoke on Saturday about the Nordic country’s desire to join NATO in a phone call on the initiative taken by Finland, according to a statement issued by President Niinisto’s office.
“The conversation was direct and calm. “Avoiding tensions was considered important,” said President Niinisto, according to a statement from his office.
The Kremlin said in a statement after the phone call that President Putin told President Niinisto that giving up Finland’s policy of neutrality would have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations.
Mr Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Thursday they wanted their country to join NATO “without delay”, a move that would make a major policy change for the traditionally neutral country in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden, another traditionally neutral Scandinavian country, is also expected to seek to join NATO in the coming days.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that his country does not support Finland and Sweden’s membership in NATO, saying that in those countries there are “many terrorist organizations“.
On Saturday, a foreign policy adviser to Mr Erdogan said Turkey had not closed its doors to Sweden and Finland, but was seeking negotiations with the Nordic countries, as well as cracking down on what it saw as terrorist activities, especially in Stockholm.
“We are not closing the door. “But basically we are raising this issue as a matter of national security for Turkey,” adviser Ibrahim Kalin, who is also the Turkish president’s spokesman, told Reuters./VOA
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