It's been crucial how the EU has mobilised support to Ukraine and everything we have done and will do has been very effective. It is important that the unity of the EU has been maintained. We are seeing a devastating humanitarian situation now in Ukraine, in cities like Mariupol and others which are surrounded and attacked, we of course have to do our utmost to help on the humanitarian sector as well.
#Russia #Ukraine #Finland #Mariupol #sanctions #Putin #NATO
Finally, it's very important that we support Ukraine now at the peace and possible ceasefire talks, and the more we can channel support to Ukraine, the better position they will also have for these peace talks with Russia.

Finland is not applying for official membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) but for a close association, said the country's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

He stressed that although Finland has the option of joining NATO due to its white paper on security policies, which has been adopted by Parliament, the opinion of citizens suggests an association.

"Now, over the last week, the big change in Finland has been that, for the first time, we have opinion polls in which the majority of Finnish citizens are in favor of the association with NATO," he said in an interview with the Anadolu Agency.

Before the Russian operation in Ukraine, which began on February 24, polls in Finland showed that the majority of citizens were opposed to membership of the alliance.

A poll conducted in mid-March by Finnish state television Yle found for the first time that a majority of Finns, 62%, were in favor of joining NATO.

“But of course it is a parliamentary process on the Finnish side to discuss these elements and then of course it is also up to the NATO countries, if one day Finland sends a request,” Haavisto added.

In that case, he said the discussion is ongoing. “But of course currently what we maintain is that we are not a member, we are not applying for membership, but we are in close association with NATO,” he stressed.

The Russian government is opposed to its neighboring countries joining NATO, saying it threatens their security.

On Russia and the military operation in Ukraine, the Finnish Foreign Minister said that the Ukrainian government must be respected so that it is "the beginning of any conversation".

Regarding NATO's role in the conflict, he noted that the organization must be "very careful not to expand the war in any way and try to encapsulate it where it is now."

Russia has denounced that the expansion of the transatlantic organization on its borders poses a real threat to its security.

Specifically, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in February that after the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), NATO had promised not to expand into the eastern region, however the opposite has happened, since it has in Poland, Romania and other countries.

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