ABU DHABI – Russia has demanded that Finland leave NATO as part of a proposed “new European security order”, according to a report by Germany’s Bild newspaper.
According to Bild, Moscow wants Finland to leave NATO and the alliance to remove its military bases from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The proposals were reportedly presented unofficially to European representatives during Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
The reported package also proposes turning Moldova into a federation that would include Gagauzia and Transnistria, which could hold independence referendums if Moldova joins the European Union. Ukrainian outlet Interfax-Ukraine, reporting on the same claims, said the demands also include Russia taking the entire Donetsk region.
The reported demands follow weeks of speculation. In late October, The Telegraph, citing diplomatic sources, reported that Russia was expected to press for NATO to roll back its military footprint to 1997 levels. That could mean pressure for NATO forces to withdraw from Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, all of which border Russia.
Finland joined NATO in April 2023, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. European officials have said their stance on Russian demands over NATO has not changed. “Our position remains the same as in January 2022,” one European official told The Telegraph.
The talks in Abu Dhabi are being held in a US-brokered format. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov had earlier played down expectations of an immediate breakthrough, calling the meeting a “trial run”.
It was not immediately clear whether the Kremlin or any European government has commented on the Bild report. The account of the proposals rests on media reporting and could not be independently verified.
