Putin’s state television disagrees about Finland

According to Russian state television, Vladimir Putin should take care of Finland. “We must release our brothers,” the guests demanded.

MOSCOW – Russian state television has once again delivered a scandal: TV commentators debated on “60 Minutes” whether Moscow’s military should “liberate” Finland. Background: The Scandinavian country is about to join NATO.

Guest Dmitry Absalov described the situation in Finland as “messy” and “already beyond our control”. Russia-1However, presenter Olga Skabeeva insisted that Finland was “our historic country” and that Russia should act against Finland’s threatened NATO membership. “We must free our fellow Finns,” he said shortly before parliamentary elections in Finland.

Russian State TV: Putin “must liberate Finland”

This idea was met with opposition from Absalom. He insisted that Russian forces should focus on the current offensive, which has stalled in recent months. Russia continues to record losses in Ukraine. “First let’s free everything, then we’ll deal with the brotherly Finns,” said Absalov, doubting that Finland’s “liberation” would “happen” in our time.

Meanwhile, Finland is moving closer to NATO membership. Turkey’s parliament voted last Thursday in favor of Finland’s NATO membership. Thus, Helsinki has cleared the last obstacle to becoming a new state in the military alliance. At the same time, it is a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Finnish membership would bring NATO closer to Russia’s borders

Putin’s concerns about the military alliance’s eastward expansion were among the top issues in international relations in the months leading up to his war on Ukraine. Finland’s membership would bring NATO closer to Russia’s borders. Both the states share a common northern border.

Finland and Sweden have abandoned NATO membership for decades, but sought to officially join after Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine in February. However, the two countries’ membership was delayed for months after Turkey objected to its ties to Kurdish groups in Syria, which it classifies as terrorist organizations.

While Finland is moving towards membership, Sweden’s accession continues to be delayed. (mse)