Russia will respond to Finland’s Nato accession, says Foreign Minister

Russia has said it would be forced to respond to Finland’s decision to join Nato.

“Finland joining Nato is a radical change in the country’s foreign policy,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature, in order to stop threats to its national security arising.”

Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, A Ukrainian commander in Mariupol has appealed directly to Elon Musk, asking the world’s richest man to intervene on behalf of those trapped by Russian forces in control of the southern city. Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine. Also, Ukraine claimed it has recaptured Pytomnyk, a village north of Kharkiv, about halfway to the Russian border. However, Finland’s president, Sauli Niinisto, is expected to give a green light on Thursday for the country to join the NATO military alliance, while Sweden is expected to do so in the coming days.