Amidst Russia – Ukraine Invasion, Finland’s President, Niinisto Considers Joining NATO

The President of Finland, Sauli Niinisto has said his country would review its security policy to decide whether to join NATO, on Thursday.

The information to review came in just 18 months after the government completed its last assessment, taking on more urgency since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Recall that Finland and Sweden had been strongly by the Russian Government against joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO.

Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry had noted that there would be severe military and political consequences if Finland and Sweden should decided to join NATO.

Read also: Ukraine War: Russia Issues Fresh Threats On Western Businesses

Many Finns have traditionally been wary of Russia, with which their Nordic country shares a 1,340 kilometres (830 miles) border and a history of two wars between 1939 and 1944, which cost Finland substantial territory, NAN reports.

However, Speaking on the possibility of Finland joining the defence alliance, Niinisto told reporters, ”When alternatives and risks have been analysed, then it’s time for conclusions,’’

“We have safe solutions also for our future; we must review them carefully.

“Not with delay, but carefully,’’ Niinisto added.He, however, declined to give a time frame for the process.

Meanwhile, Niinisto had met U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington and was due to hold a phone call with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

He declined to reveal what he would say to Putin, who calls Russia’s actions a special military operation to disarm its neighbour and dislodge leaders it calls neo-Nazis.

Kyiv and its Western allies said this was a baseless pretext to invade a country of 44 million people