RUSSIA said today it “deeply regretted” Finland’s move to consider closing its border crossings with Russia.

Helsinki yesterday accused Moscow of deliberately allowing migrants to cross into Finland without having proper travel documents, suggesting it was a tactic to destabilise its neighbour.

“We deeply regret that the Finnish leadership has chosen to deliberately move away from what used to be good relations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today, when asked about Finland’s comments.

Russia and Finland share a 1,340-kilometre land border, stretching through mainly forests from near the Russian city of Saint Petersburg up into the Arctic Circle. 

Relations between the two countries have been strained since Moscow launched its assault on Ukraine in  February 2022.

Helsinki has since dropped decades of military non-alignment and joined Nato in April.

Moscow warned it would take unspecified “countermeasures” against Finland joining the US-led military alliance.

The risk analysis unit of the Finnish Border Guard said it has seen an increasing number of Middle Eastern and African asylum seekers crossing the border since August.

The Nordic country of 5.5 million people is in the process of putting up a 200-kilometre fence on a section of the border, due to be completed by 2026.

At present, Finland’s borders are secured primarily by light wooden fences, mainly designed to stop livestock from wandering to the wrong side. – AFP,  November 15, 2023.