Finland has dismissed as unacceptable reports that Russia wants the country to leave NATO as part of a possible agreement to end the war in Ukraine. Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen said that Moscow was attempting to impose restrictions on European defence in its own interests.
“Russia wants European NATO member states to impose restrictions on themselves that serve Russian interests. Such issues are not up for negotiation,” Häkkänen said, quoted by Bloomberg. According to him, Moscow is testing how far the concessions from the United States and Europe can go by expanding the agenda beyond Ukraine’s future.
What the reported Russian conditions include
German newspaper Bild reported that Russian representatives had presented unofficial proposals during talks in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November. According to the report, Moscow demanded that Finland return to the status it held before joining NATO, and that the construction of Alliance military bases in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania be prohibited.
The reported package of conditions also includes a requirement that Ukraine remain outside military alliances, Russia retaining the occupied Ukrainian territories, and the entire Donbas being placed under Russian control. According to Bild, the demilitarisation of the ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv is also envisaged. The information about the document has not been independently confirmed, and it is unclear whether it represents an official position of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Kremlin denies it, Helsinki stands firm
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that Moscow had insisted that Finland leave NATO. “This was certainly not discussed,” he said, adding that he was not aware of any such demand. At the same time, the Kremlin continues to insist on halting NATO’s further eastward expansion and on written guarantees on this issue.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said that he was not aware of any such Russian proposal, but stressed that the country’s NATO membership could not be negotiated. Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen also said that the decision on Finland’s membership was entirely up to the country and the Alliance.
Finland joined NATO in April 2023, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The reported Russian demands recall Moscow’s proposals from December 2021, when the Kremlin insisted on restrictions on NATO’s expansion and military presence in Eastern Europe.
Europe to take part in the next round
The talks in Abu Dhabi between representatives of the United States, Russia and Ukraine led to a decision to include Europe in the next round. The European Union and five countries from the coalition supporting Ukraine – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Poland – will send representatives.
European leaders insist that a ceasefire must first be reached before a comprehensive change to Europe’s security architecture is discussed. In their view, including Russian demands concerning NATO in the negotiations could shift the focus away from the military actions in Ukraine.
Sources: bloomberg.com, helsinkitimes.fi, apnews.com