Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was “calm and cool” when Finland informed him of its decision to apply for NATO membership. While informing Russia of Finland’s decision to apply for NATO membership, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he was surprised by President Vladimir Putin’s calm reaction.
“Actually, the surprise was that he took it so calmly,” he told CNN. “But in security policy, especially when talking to Russia, you have to keep in mind that what Putin said doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on alert.”
According to Niinisto, “so far, there seems to be no immediate problems coming”. The Finnish president also said that although he was “stunned” by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s comments, he “is not worried” by Turkey blocking Finland’s membership of NATO. “I think there will still be a lot of discussions and I’m not that worried about it” he concluded.
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