The new, less aggressive tone comes on the heels of weeks of threats from the Kremlin toward Helsinki and Stockholm on the subject of NATO membership, including military retaliation and nuclear threats.
that if Finland joins NATO then"Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop the threats to its national security arising in this regard."
Finland shares an 1,300km border with Russia, and the Finns and the Russians fought fiercely during World War II in a conflict known as the Winter War that saw Finland lose a huge portion of its territory. In 1948, Finland signed a treaty with Russia that ensured that the Soviets would not invade again in exchange for Helsinki remaining militarily non-aligned. Sweden, like its next-door neighbour Finland, was also neutral throughout the Cold War.
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