Russia threatens to retaliate as Finland prepares plans to join Nato ‘without delay’

Russia has threatened to retaliate against Finland after it moved closer to becoming a member of Nato.

Moscow said it would be forced to take steps “of a military-technical nature” to counter what it regarded as a threat to its security.

Finland’s leaders said Nato membership would protect the country after Russia invaded Ukraine. President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin called on Finnish politicians to agree to the move “without delay”.

“Nato membership would strengthen Finland’s security,” they said. “As a member, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance.”

Senior western officials said they would embrace a Finnish membership bid. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the accession process would be “smooth and swift”.

Finland and Sweden are the two biggest EU countries who have not yet joined Nato.

Finland’s 1,300-kilometre border will more than double the length of the frontier between the alliance and Russia, putting Nato guards a few hours’ drive from the northern outskirts of St Petersburg.

Sweden, which like Finland is reconsidering its decades-old policy of military non-alignment, said it would announce its decision on possible Nato membership soon.

But on Thursday, Russia accused Finland of turning its shared border into a “line of military confrontation”.

“Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps … in order to stop the threats to its national security arising in this regard,” its Foreign Ministry said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Nato’s looming enlargement “does not make the world and our continent more stable and secure”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had sought to use the crisis in Ukraine to curb Nato’s expansion. But western politicians say he has instead caused his neighbours to seek membership in the alliance.

Meanwhile, disputes intensified on Thursday over Russian supplies of energy to Europe, which is still Moscow’s biggest source of funds.

Russia said it would halt gas flows to Germany through the main pipeline over Poland, while Ukraine said it would not reopen a pipeline it shut this week unless it regained control of areas from pro-Russian fighters. Prices for gas in Europe have surged.

Russia has suffered heavy losses in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, with troops forced to pull back in the face of attacks from “highly motivated” Ukrainian soldiers, British intelligence has said.

Moscow’s focus on the eastern Donbas region has opened a window of opportunity for the Ukrainians further north. They have regained control of several towns and villages near Kharkiv, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

Moscow had expected its troops to encounter “limited resistance” in the city, which is 40 kilometres from the Russian border, the MoD said. But after fierce clashes with defenders, some of the invading troops in the region were forced to retreat to replenish and reorganise.

“Russia’s prioritisation of operations in the Donbas has left elements deployed in the Kharkiv Oblast vulnerable to the mobile, and highly motivated, Ukrainian counter-attacking force,” the MoD said.

“Despite Russia’s success in encircling Kharkiv in the initial stages of the conflict, it has reportedly withdrawn units from the region to reorganise and replenish its forces following heavy losses.

“The withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kharkiv Oblast is a tacit recognition of Russia’s inability to capture key Ukrainian cities where they expected limited resistance.”

Meanwhile, Kyiv has offered to release Russian prisoners of war in exchange for the safe evacuation of badly injured fighters trapped in the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the south-eastern city of Mariupol.

Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Wednesday that negotiations were under way to release injured fighters holed up at the Sea of Azov port.

She said there were different options, but “none of them is ideal”.

Those negotiations are taking place as Kyiv prepares for its first war crimes trial of a captured Russian soldier.

Ukraine’s top prosecutor said her office charged Sgt Vadin Shyshimarin, 21, with the murder of an unarmed civilian, 62, who was shot while riding a bicycle in the north-eastern village of Chupakhivka in February.

In another development, Finland’s leadership on Thursday supported joining Nato – paving the way for Russia’s neighbour to begin the membership process.

The move by Helsinki was announced by President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

“Nato membership would strengthen Finland’s security,” Mr Niinisto and Ms Marin said.

Neighbour Sweden is expected to decide to join Nato in the coming days, abandoning centuries of neutrality in armed conflicts.