– Russia has consistently advocated and in practice pursued a policy of developing good-neighbourly, mutually beneficial cooperation with Finland – the basis of which has traditionally been strong trade and economic relations. Bilateral ties that had been developed over decades and contributed to raising the standard of living of people were destroyed overnight by the Finnish leadership, which categorically chose a confrontational course towards our country, following the mainstream of general Western anti-Russian propaganda and war psychosis. This was not our choice.1
Sergei Lavrov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Russia, 30 January 2023
– Russia has massively expanded hostilities in Ukraine and now the mask has come off. Only the cold face of war is visible. Finland strongly condemns Russia’s actions and warfare, and demands an immediate end to hostilities … . It is understandable that many Finns are now feeling afraid. I emphasise that there is no current threat against Finland. But this surely will have, and has already had, an effect. We are always carefully prepared for different scenarios.2
Sauli Niinistö, President of Finland, 24 February 2022
The above quotes reflect the differences in perspectives and interpretations regarding the security policy changes that have occurred since Russia started its full-scale war against Ukraine on 24 February 2022. On the one hand, the quote by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov summarises well the official Russian interpretation of the state of Russian-Finnish relations after Finland’s NATO membership in 2023. In this discourse, Finland is seen as an irrational actor suffering from “war psychosis”. Finland is presented as irrationally throwing away all the positive aspects that collaboration with Russia brought. On the other hand, from a small state perspective, Finnish-Russian relations naturally look very different. Hence, former President Sauli Niinistö’s words reflect Finland’s sense of vulnerability and lack of trust in Russia as an actor. Even in the best of circumstances, the dire asymmetry of the relationship makes Russia a potential existential threat to Finland. The core of Finland’s foreign and security policy has always been about the management of this threat. Throughout the decades, Finland has attempted to use balancing, institutional and even – for a brief while – identity-related strategies to manage the asymmetric relationship with its big neighbour. The bilateral relationship has always reflected global great power dynamics.
