Finland's defense minister says Russia's demand for NATO withdrawal is worthless

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Haakkanen said that Russia's demand to withdraw its NATO presence from countries along the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) eastern border is an attempt to test the will of the United States and Europe to negotiate and is without any merit.

According to Bloomberg News, Minister Hakkanen told local media on the 13th (local time), "Russia wants NATO members in Europe to limit their own military activities for Russia's interests, but this is an issue that cannot be negotiated."

His remarks followed a report in the German daily Bild that Russia had proposed a new framework for European security, including Finland's withdrawal from NATO and the withdrawal of NATO military bases stationed in the Baltic countries.

“It is completely absurd to even make such a proposal,” Harkanen said, adding, “Russia knows this very well.”

Minister Harkanen went on to point to the two-day end-of-war talks between Russia and Ukraine held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this week, saying, "Recently, Russia has been boldly testing the extent to which the United States and Europe can show flexibility," and emphasized, "It is clear that Russia is not seriously engaged in peace talks. Rather, it appears that they are expanding their demands to go beyond the war in Ukraine and change the European security framework itself in a direction more favorable to them."

“All Western policymakers must realize that this is part of the psychological warfare that Russia has been waging for decades,” he warned. “They are trying to create a situation that is unfavorable to us by continuously moving the ‘goalposts’ in the negotiation process. We must not be caught up in their bluff.”

Finland, which was ruled by Tsarist Russia for more than a century from the early 19th century and gained independence during the Russian Revolution in 1917, has a history full of antagonism with neighboring Russia, including the harsh 'Winter War' that broke out in 1939 due to the Soviet invasion.

Finland, which shares a border with Russia of over 1,300 km, joined NATO along with Sweden in 2023, the following year, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.