Biden Discusses With Finnish Counterpart Russian Build-Up, NATO Partnership - White House

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2022) US President Joe Biden discussed the build-up of Russian military forces near Ukraine as well as the importance of defense partnerships with the United States and NATO in a call with Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto, the White House said in a readout of the conversation.

"The two leaders discussed their shared concern over Russia's unprovoked military build-up on Ukraine's borders. They also discussed the importance of Finland's close defense partnership with the United States and with NATO to ensure security in northern Europe," the White House said in the readout on Tuesday.

Biden emphasized right of Finland and other European countries to choose their own security arrangements such as membership in NATO and discussed the importance of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as a venue for dialogue and de-escalation of European security challenges, the White House also said.

Polling data from Finnish national newspaper Helsingin Sanomat released on Monday showed that opposition to NATO membership in Finland fell to 42% - the first time in the history of the poll that it has dropped below a 50% threshold. Another 28% said that they support accession to NATO and 30% remain undecided, according to the poll results.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that it is up to the Finnish people to decide whether they want to join NATO and added that Russia fully respects the sovereignty of the Scandinavian countries.