Russia summons Finnish ambassador over ending cross-border cooperation agreement

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday summoned Finnish Ambassador Antti Helantera to hand him a diplomatic note on the termination of a cross-border cooperation agreement between the two countries.

On its website, the ministry said the decision was made in response to Finland's "confrontational actions" against Russia, including cutting off trade, economic and interregional ties and introducing a discriminatory policy for visa deliveries to Russians on the basis of national origin.

The agreement on the promotion of the cross-border cooperation, signed in 2012 in Helsinki, will ended in 90 days, next Jan. 24, the ministry said.

Ties between Russia and Finland have been strained since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine in February 2022. They share a border of some 1,340 kilometers (830 miles), and during World War II, forces of the then-Soviet Union invaded Finland.

Finland joined the NATO military alliance this April, a step that Russia opposed, and since 1995 has been a member of the European Union, which has a wide range of sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war.