The Russian Foreign Ministry announced in a lengthy statement that it had summoned the Finnish ambassador to Russia Antti Helanterä on Thursday and expressed its “strong protest regarding the confrontational anti-Russian policy pursued by the Finnish authorities.”
The statement also noted that “the parameters of Finland’s accession to NATO create a threat” to Russia’s security and “encourage the Kiev regime to (go) to war and filling it with Western weapons clearly represents hostile actions against our country”.
The statement concluded that “this line of the Finnish authorities cannot go unanswered.”
He indicated that nine Finnish diplomats will be expelled from Russia and that the permit that allowed the Finnish consulate to operate in Saint Petersburg, the country’s second-largest city, will be revoked as of October 1.
Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, joined NATO in April as the 31st member of the military alliance. The interaction between Helsinki and Moscow has become restricted in recent months.
Pekka Haavisto, a Finnish politician and then foreign minister, announced in May that Russia froze the bank accounts of the Finnish diplomatic missions in Moscow and St. Petersburg, interrupting the flow of money and forcing the Nordic country’s missions to resort to payments. cash.
In June, Finland expelled nine Russian diplomats suspected of working on intelligence operations at the Russian embassy in Helsinki.
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Associated Press writer Jari Tanner contributed from Helsinki, Finland.
FUENTE: Associated Press
