Finland rejects reported Russian demand to leave NATO as part of peace talks
Finnish Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen has dismissed reports that Russia demanded Finland leave NATO during Ukraine peace talks, saying membership in the alliance is not up for negotiation.
Finland has rejected a reported Russian demand that it withdraw from NATO as part of talks on ending the war in Ukraine. Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen told reporters on Friday that membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Western military alliance, is not a subject for negotiation, according to Finnish broadcaster Yle.
"Such matters are in no way a matter for negotiation. Russia knows that. This is absolutely outrageous to even suggest such a thing," he said.
Finland, which has a 1,340-kilometre border with Russia, joined NATO in 2023. The move marked a sharp reversal in its foreign policy, prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
What Bild reported
The German newspaper Bild reported that a Russian proposal presented at talks in Abu Dhabi this week contained several points. Moscow would keep the Ukrainian territories it occupies and take control of additional land, ports in Ukraine would be demilitarised, NATO bases would be removed from the Baltic states, and Finland would leave NATO. In return, Russia reportedly offered to pull its nuclear weapons out of Belarus and not station intermediate-range missiles there.
According to the report, it remains unclear which proposals Russian President Vladimir Putin would back after discussions between intermediaries.
Zelenskyy: new security framework could be dangerous
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a new post-war security framework for Europe raised by the Americans "can be dangerous." He added that Russia cannot make decisions on behalf of all the societies that belong to NATO.
Zelenskyy's remarks were not a direct response to the demands reported by Bild. They followed a Thursday meeting in Dublin between Zelenskyy and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
"Putin's desire to change borders in Europe is a fact. I am sure this is part of his concept of revising security guarantees in Europe. This is dangerous because, in my view, it is precisely things like this that lead to wars or escalations," Zelenskyy said.
