Overview
- In a New Year's address quoted by Yle, President Alexander Stubb said relations between Helsinki and Moscow have changed forever.
- Stubb pledged that Finland will do everything possible to support Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
- He added that any future peace agreement with Russia would involve compromise and may not satisfy everyone in the West.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier accused Finnish elites of “animal russophobia” and cited Finland’s wartime cooperation with Nazi Germany and the blockade of Leningrad.
- RIA Novosti followed by spotlighting Iltalehti coverage of Stubb's visibly crooked, wrinkled tie during the address, shifting attention toward personal ridicule.