The Finnish Executive has made clear that its membership in NATO is not subject to negotiation and has described as “absolutely outrageous” that, allegedly, this issue was put on the table at the recent meeting held between Russia and Ukraine, with U.S. mediation, in the United Arab Emirates.
“These matters are absolutely not negotiable. Russia knows that. It’s absolutely outrageous to even suggest such a thing,” Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said in response to information that Russia would have demanded Finland leave NATO, as the German tabloid ‘Bild’ reported.
According to this outlet, Moscow’s proposals would go beyond consolidating control of the occupied Ukrainian territories and would aim to completely redesign the European security architecture. That possible plan would include keeping Kyiv out of any military alliance, including NATO, and also vetoing the presence of the Alliance’s bases in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
For Finland’s Defense chief, these alleged demands from Russia “are nothing new” and reflect a dynamic in which, for some time now, “it seems that Russia has been encouraged to test Europe and the United States to see to what extent they will yield to their demands,” the television network Yle reported.
Along the same lines, Hakkanen has expressed doubts about the real scope of this new phase of contacts resumed this week in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, since, in his view, “Russia does not take the negotiations seriously, but seeks to expand its demands to include changes to European security agreements.”
The Kremlin rejects the accusations
From Moscow, however, they deny that any possible exit of Finland from NATO formed part of the Abu Dhabi talks. “I have no knowledge of that. No, no, it wasn’t raised. Of course, it wasn’t discussed,” Kremlin spokesperson Dimitri Peskov said, distancing himself from the published reports.
Finland abandoned its traditional policy of military neutrality in April 2023 by joining NATO, a decision driven mainly by the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine one year earlier. With its accession, 1,340 kilometers of land border were added between Russia and the Atlantic Alliance.
The Finnish accession, followed by Sweden’s one year later, has profoundly transformed the security landscape in Northern Europe, turning what until then had been a neutral buffer strip into a fully integrated flank within NATO.