Finland President warned of a nuclear threat during the war in Ukraine

Finland President Sauli Ninisto announced the "huge" risk of nuclear weapons from Russia during the war in Ukraine. He said this in an interview with The New York Times, urging the inhabitants of Europe, not to be "complacent" in connection with the war and remember that at any moment the situation could change for the worst, towards the escalation of the conflict.

"We are in a very delicate situation. Even a small thing can greatly affect events - for the worse," the president of Finland said. The war, according to him, can last a long time, and Europeans should not have the illusions of the relative that the situation may be quickly resolved.

According to Ninisto, the inhabitants of the EU countries need to understand that they are responsible for their safety and strengthen the defense. The President of Finland noted that many "awakened" after a large -scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but after a year and a half indifference and lack of interest in what is happening in Ukraine began to appear again. According to Ninisto, the EU countries need to take an example from Finland, where defense issues are very serious, which the country's entry into NATO was proof. At the same time, the President of Finland called on the Western countries to be cautioned in increasing the volume of assistance to Ukraine so as not to provoke Russia, including a nuclear blow.

Ninista also spoke about his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin until 2022. According to Ninisto, Putin talked a lot with him about Russian culture, as if he were "obsessed" with it. Once, as the Finnish president recalls, he asked him a question related to the poem by Mikhail Lermontov "to the death of the poet." Putin’s response monologue lasted more than half an hour. On the eve of the war, Ninisto, according to him, spoke several times with Putin, including at the request of US President Joe Biden, and asked not to attack Ukraine - to no avail.

According to Ninisto, the war in any case ends in the world and Russia will exist after the war, and it will be necessary to build relations based "not on great friendship, but at least to understand each other at least a little each other." At the same time, according to him, Europe is interested in ensuring that Russia could not unleash a new war.

• High -ranking Russian representatives have repeatedly performed with veiled or even direct threats to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry officially claims that Moscow still adheres to the formula that the nuclear war should not be untied.
• Finland joined NATO last summer. Since the end of the Second World War, the country has observed neutrality.