Finland rejected Russia's possible demands for the country's withdrawal from NATO and the withdrawal of the alliance's bases from the Baltics, -. Bloomberg.
The Finnish Minister of Defense, Antti Hakanen, said that Russia's demands to reduce NATO's presence on its borders are unacceptable and cannot be a subject of negotiations.
"Russia wants the European NATO countries to limit their activities in the interests of Russia, but such issues are non-negotiable," Häjakanen told reporters in Helsinki.
This is how he commented on the publication of the German newspaper "Bild", according to which Moscow proposed a new architecture for European security. It provides for the withdrawal of Finland from NATO and the withdrawal of the alliance's military bases from the Baltic states.
"To even suggest such a thing is absolutely outrageous. Russia knows this," the minister emphasized.
At the same time, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov denied information about such demands from Moscow.
"I don't know about that. No such demand was made. It was definitely not part of the discussion," Peskov said.
According to Hakanen, Russia is trying to test the willingness of the United States and Europe to make concessions on security issues.
The minister also accused Moscow of trying to expand the agenda of peace negotiations on Ukraine to the point of revising the entire European security architecture in its favor.
"We must not fall for their bluff," he added.
We will remind you that Finland joined NATO in 2023.