by Paolo Valentino
The warning from Moscow: “You are damaging our relationships, which are based on good neighborliness.” Yesterday in Berlin, mediation to Erdogan’s “No”: “We will find a solution”
BERLIN On the eve of the official announcement that Finland intends to apply for NATO membership, Vladimir Putin warned the President of the Finnish Republic, Sauli Niinisto, that this would have “negative effects” on relations between Moscow and Helsinki. Niinisto had phoned the Kremlin leader to anticipate the decision, stating that after the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine, the strategic framework had changed radically: “By joining NATO, Finland will strengthen its security and assume its responsibilities ‘ said the head of the Nordic state, but added that he intends to continue dialogue with Moscow in the future “particularly on concrete border issues” as the two countries share a 1340-kilometer border. Niinisto, one of the Western leaders who has met Putin several times in recent years. He described the conversation as “direct, clear and without exaggerated tones”.
According to a Kremlin statement, Putin responded by defining “a mistake” for Helsinki to “abandon its traditional policy of military neutrality” as it would “negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations, which are built on mutual benefit in the spirit of good.” Neighborhood”.
And some facts have already followed the words. During the night from Friday to Saturday, Moscow had already stopped supplying electricity to Finland, citing payment defaults. In addition, during the talks between Putin and Niinisto, the Kremlin had ordered the start of air exercises in the Baltic Sea with a Su-27 squadron simulating repelling an air attack on Kaliningrad.
The diplomatic front is in full swing on the question of the dual candidacy of Finland and Sweden for NATO. After Turkish President Erdogan’s no to Helsinki and Stockholm’s accession, the foreign ministers of Finland and Turkey arrived in Berlin last night to overcome opposition from Ankara, whose approval must be decided together with that of all NATO members on enlargement. “I am sure we will find a solution,” said Pekka Haavesto, head of Finnish diplomacy. One of Erdogan’s arguments is that the two countries “host many terrorist organizations,” alluding to Kurdish leaders living in Sweden and Finland.
In the same hour, the G7 foreign ministers, meeting in Oldenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, renewed their support for Kyiv, promising to supply more arms and more money and, more importantly, to impose new sanctions on crucial sectors of the Russian economy. clear indication of the future gas embargo. They also reiterated that they will “never” recognize the borders that Russia “has attempted to shift with military aggression.”
German minister Annalena Baerbock, the current president, accused Russia of waging a wheat war by blockading Ukrainian ports, “a hybrid warfare aimed at dividing our common position against the invasion.” The Russians’ goal would be to pass on to sanctions the rise in energy prices and food shortages that are worrying Western public opinion. In order to counteract this approach, the foreign ministers have put forward the proposal for a “Global Alliance for Food Security” which is to be implemented at the next G7 summit of those responsible for development.
May 14, 2022 (Modified May 14, 2022 | 21:33)
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