Russia-Ukraine war updates | Finland becomes 31st member of NATO

Jens Stoltenberg, the head of NATO, claimed that Finland's entry into the military alliance demonstrated to Russia that Putin had been unsuccessful in preventing it from accepting new members.

“President Putin wanted to slam NATO’s door shut. Today we show the world that he failed, that aggression and intimidation do not work,” Stoltenberg said.

“We welcome Finland to the alliance,” he said at the end of a brief ceremony marking Finland’s membership.

The Kremlin has announced that Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus, will visit Moscow for two days of talks with Putin.

Putin and Lukashenko will hold talks on “topical bilateral and international issues” on Wednesday, before a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Union State on Thursday, the Kremlin said in an announcement published.

Sauli Niinisto, the president of Finland, declared shortly after Helsinki officially became the 31st member of the alliance that Helsinki will strive "relentlessly" to ensure Sweden's membership in NATO.

“Finland’s membership is not complete without Swedish membership. The work for Sweden’s early membership continues relentlessly,” Niinisto said in a statement.

Finland is now the 31st member of the NATO security alliance. The country's flag will soon be raised at the alliance's headquarters. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto signed the accession document and gave it to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Finland becomes 31st member of NATO

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called Finland's accession to NATO a "historic day". 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says that until a few years ago, one couldn't see Finland as a part of NATO.

"Not so many years ago we thought it was unthinkable that Finland would become a member. Now they will be a fully-fledged member of our alliance and that is truly historic," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

"We are removing the room for miscalculation in Moscow about NATO's readiness to protect Finland, and that makes Finland safer."

Russia has warned that it will take counter-measures in response to Finland joining NATO, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

"The Kremlin believes that this is the latest aggravation of the situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "And this forces us to take countermeasures... in tactical and strategic terms."

Russia slammed NATO for adding Finland as a member on Tuesday and branded Finland's NATO membership an "assault on our security". Kremlin added that it represented "the latest aggravation of the situation".

"The expansion of NATO is an assault on our security and Russia's national interests," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

As Finland officially joins NATO on Tuesday, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that with this "NATO becomes stronger, Finland becomes safer". Finland is the 31st NATO nation.

“President Putin had as a declared goal of the invasion of Ukraine to get less Nato,” he told reporters ahead of a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers.

“He is getting exactly the opposite … Finland today, and soon also Sweden will become a full fledged member of the alliance,” he said.

Helsinki residents welcomed Finland becoming a member of NATO. People said that it will bring security to their country which shares a long border with Russia. 

Outi Lantimaki, 59, who is a designer at a shipyard: "I feel it's a good thing that Finland is joining NATO. We have been here next to Russia for ages. My father was in the war with the Russians so this is like a personal thing to me." 

Sweden underwent a similar transformation in defence thinking and Stockholm and Helsinki applied together last year to join NATO. However, Sweden's application has been held up by NATO members Turkey and Hungary.

Turkey has raised objection, as its President Recep Erdoğan said that Sweden has lax policies toward Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other groups that Turkey deems terrorist organisations. 

Finland's joining of NATO marks the end of an era of military non-alignment for the nation, which started after the country repelled an invasion attempt by the Soviet Union during World War II and opted to try to maintain friendly relations with neighbouring Russia. 

But Russia's recent invasion of another neighbour, Ukraine prompted Finns to seek security under the umbrella of NATO's collective defence pact, which states that an attack on one member is an attack on all. 

Finland is all set to become a member of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday. The nation has completed a historic security policy shift triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, its neighbour Sweden has been kept in the waiting room. 

The military alliance will welcome Finland as its 31st member in a flag-raising ceremony at NATO headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels, attended by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and government ministers. 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday: "It will be a good day for Finland's security, for Nordic security and for NATO as a whole."