Embassy of Finland in Moscow receives letter with powder
(Reuters) – The Finnish embassy in Moscow received a letter containing an unknown powder and reported the matter to Russian authorities, Russian news agencies reported on Friday.
Relations between Moscow and Helsinki have deteriorated sharply since Finland formally joined NATO on April 4 and became the 31st member of the US-led military alliance. Finland shares a long land border with Russia.
The embassy received three letters on Thursday, one of which contained powder, the RIA news agency reported.
“In accordance with the security regulations of the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the letters in question have been handed over to official representative bodies of Russia, which will investigate the matter,” RIA quoted the embassy as saying.
The embassy said it had also informed the Russian Foreign Ministry about the incident.
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Finland’s decision to join NATO ended seven decades of strategic nonalignment that began after the country repelled a Soviet invasion attempt during World War II. In the post-war period, it decided to establish friendly relations with Moscow.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 prompted the Finns to seek security under NATO’s Collective Defense Pact, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all.
(Reported by Reuters; Edited by Gareth Jones)
Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.
