Russia warns NATO to close the border, G7 pledges aid to Ukraine

“It will be necessary to respond… by taking appropriate precautions to ensure deterrence. The Moscow government has no hostile intentions against Finland or Sweden, and does not see reasons do ‘real’ for those two countries to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Reuters news agency today (May 14).

“I need to reiterate the Kremlin’s previous statement that the response of the Moscow government to the possibility of NATO expansion will depend on how the military bloc moves its military assets close to Russia, or on the basis of its facilities. What military infrastructure will be deployed by them,” Grushko added.

According to Reuters, the comments of the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister came just two days after the Finnish leadership announced that the country must apply to join NATO “immediately”. The Finnish Parliament is expected to approve the application to join NATO on May 16 at the earliest.

Elsewhere, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto today had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, to announce that the country would join NATO.

“The Russian military campaign in Ukraine has changed the security environment of Finland. The phone conversation was candid, and it was done without any ‘tickling’ gestures. The issue of avoiding tensions is considered important,” Niinisto told CNBC.

“During the phone call, I continued to express my concerns about the humanitarian problems in Ukraine caused by hostilities, as well as voice my call for peace. I also call for ensuring the safety of civilians evacuated from war zones,” added the Finnish president.

According to Kremlin officials, Russian President Putin in a phone call warned that Finland’s abandonment of its neutrality and joining NATO “was a mistake and this would damage relations between the two countries.”

“Putin stressed that it was a mistake for Finland to abandon its traditional neutral military policy, when there was no threat to its security. Such a change in foreign policy will have a negative impact on Russia-Finland relations,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

G7 pledges more aid to Ukraine

Foreign ministers of G7 countries, including the US, Canada, Britain, Germany, Italy, France and Japan, said they would continue to provide military aid to Ukraine. “We are committed to ensuring Ukraine’s access to food, energy and financial resources, while hostilities in the country are ravaging many global supply chains,” the foreign ministry said in a joint statement. Heads of G7 countries wrote.

“We will advance our own efforts to reduce and end our dependence on energy supplies from Russia as quickly as possible, based on G7 commitments to eliminate or ban imports. Russian coal and oil,” the statement added.

According to the foreign ministers of the G7 countries, they will impose more sanctions against Russian elites, including financiers, Russian government research institutes or military officials “supporting the war in Syria”. Ukraine”.

Tuan Tran