NATO Secretary General Says Respects Right Of Finland, Sweden To Choose Own Security Path

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held talks on Friday with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, saying that the alliance respects countries' right to determine their own security path

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th January, 2022) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held talks on Friday with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, saying that the alliance respects countries' right to determine their own security path.

On Sunday, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that Finland is not ruling out the possibility of applying for NATO membership.

"Spoke with President @niinisto about the security situation in Europe and Russia's build-up in & around Ukraine. We call on Russia to de-escalate. We continue to coordinate with our close partner Finland. NATO respects the right of every country to choose its own path," Stoltenberg said on Twitter.

Stoltenberg added that NATO supports "every nation's right to freely choose their own security arrangements," commenting on his call with Andersson.

It comes in the run-up to a virtual meeting of alliance members' foreign ministers on Ukraine and European security issues.

On December 17, Russia released proposals for security guarantees to NATO and the United States which seek to prevent the alliance from expanding eastward, and to ban the deployment of American and Russian intermediate and short-range missiles within reach of each other's territory, among other items.