Finland Put The Kremlin In Its Place
- 14.11.2026, 2:13
The demand to withdraw from NATO was deemed non-negotiable.
Russia’s demands that NATO reduce its presence in countries bordering it to the east are a test of the U.S. and Europe’s resolve to negotiate. This was stated by Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hykkänen, according to Bloomberg.
“Russia wants European NATO member states to restrict their own operations in Russia’s interest, and such matters are not up for discussion,” he told reporters.
Hakkinen emphasized that it is “absolutely outrageous” to make such proposals. He added that Russia is aware of this.
“In recent days, Russia has clearly dared to test the U.S. and Europe to see how flexible they are. We can clearly see that Russia is not seriously committed to peace talks but is, rather, expanding the demands it made during the war in Ukraine with the aim of reshaping the European security architecture in Russia’s favor,” the Finnish defense minister stated.
According to Hykkänen, all Western politicians must realize that Russia’s recent actions and statements are part of a psychological strategy that has been implemented for decades. He believes that Moscow wants to put Ukraine’s allies at a disadvantage.
The agency added that earlier, the press secretary for the Russian president Dmitry Peskov had denied that Russia had proposed to Finland that it withdraw from NATO. He stated that he allegedly knew nothing about this.