Russia will stop supplying electricity to Finland from Saturday.
This was announced by the energy company RAO Nordic Oy on Friday. The Helsinki-based subsidiary of the Russian group InterRAO said it had not yet received payment for electricity sold in May. It is said that it cannot pay the bills for the electricity imports.
“This situation is extraordinary and has occurred for the first time in our more than twenty-year trading history,” the company further claimed. It hopes that the situation will improve “soon” and trade can resume.
Apparently a tactical move by Moscow. Because: Finland’s head of state had declared on Thursday that the country wanted to apply for NATO membership “immediately” in view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin (69) doesn’t like that at all.
After decades of military alliance neutrality, Helsinki’s application for membership represents a fundamental change of direction in defense policy.
Kremlin threatened to react to Finland’s request to join NATO
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman Photo: Alexei Nikolsky/dpa
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would “definitely” view Finnish membership of the western military alliance as a “threat”.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow was “forced” to respond “militarily, technically and in other ways.”