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Friday, November 7th, 2014

Finland warns of new cold war over failure to grasp situation in Russia

Author:     Simon Tisdall
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Wednesday 5 November 2014 08.43 EST
 Link: Finland warns of new cold war over failure to grasp situation in Russia
Stephan:   In my view American foreign policy is so wrong-headed in so many ways it is hard to keep up. One area where neither government nor media is thinking straight and paying proper attention is The Russian Federation's actions in the countries along its borders. This interview with Finnish President, Sauli Niinisto covers some of what I think are the relevant points.
Sauli Niinisto: 'We have a long tradition of keeping out of conflict with Russia.' Credit: Lehtikuva/REUTERS

Sauli Niinisto: ‘We have a long tradition of keeping out of conflict with Russia.’
Credit: Lehtikuva/REUTERS

Western countries are at the gates of a new cold war with Russia, sparked by the Ukraine crisis and a continuing failure to grasp the depth and seriousness of Vladimir Putin’s grievances with the US and EU, the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, has warned.

Speaking to the Guardian at his official residence before Thursday’s conference in Helsinki attended by the UK prime minister, David Cameron, and Nordic and Baltic state leaders, Niinistö said Finland had a long tradition of trying to maintain friendly relations with Russia. But it would not be pushed around.

“The Finnish way of dealing with Russia, whatever the situation, is that we will be very decisive to show what we don’t like, where the red line is. And that is what we are prepared to do,” Niinistö said, referring to recent violations of Finnish airspace by Russian military aircraft.

“We put the […]

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