China appreciates Putin's remarks about Finland

Russian President Vladimir Putin ridiculed Finland's decision to join NATO and questioned the expediency of such a step. This was reported on May 12 by the Chinese newspaper Sohu.

The authors of the publication drew attention to the statement of the Russian leader made at a press conference in the Kremlin. According to the newspaper, Putin noted that after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Western countries expected Russia to weaken soon and hoped to take advantage of the situation to their advantage.

"Why did they join NATO? And in the hope that everything will collapse here, and they are right there, bang-bang. <...> I would make a certain gesture and say something, but since I come from the cultural capital, I will refrain," Putin said after the celebrations on May 9.

The Russian President paid special attention to Finland. According to Sohu, Putin wondered why Helsinki joined the North Atlantic Alliance if there were no previous territorial disputes between Russia and Finland.

The publication also recalled that after the Second World War, Finland adhered to a policy of neutrality, known as "Finlandization." Thanks to this, according to Sohu, the country managed to maintain stable relations with the Soviet Union and achieve economic development during the Cold War.

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Why would Finland need such a dangerous neighborhood

On April 23, the Finnish Ministry of Defense announced that the government had submitted to parliament a proposal to allow the import and storage of nuclear weapons for the purpose of defending the country within the framework of cooperation with NATO. On May 4, the office of the Russian Security Council announced that after the republic joined the alliance in 2023, the scale of exercises near the border with Russia increased significantly.

Putin said on December 2 last year. that Russia is not going to go to war with Europe. According to him, Russia is currently operating in Ukraine "surgically," but in the event of an attack by European countries on Russia, everything will be different.