West should not justify actions of Russian Federation, any escalation is Russia’s decision, - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Valtonen
The West should not be held responsible for the actions of Russia, since any escalation is only the decision of the Russian Federation.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Elina Valtonen, said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.
"I think the West should understand, and we all do for this, that escalation, if it takes place, is Russia's decision. And no action that we take here does not entail any escalation, and even more so does not make it justified," she said.
She clarified that there are people who understandably believe that the West, at least, should not provoke Russia.
"Thus, we understand that there is a certain concern, especially if you are a little further from the border with Russia and you are used to the traditional policy regarding it. Of course, this has changed significantly over the past year and a half," the minister emphasized.
Valtonen added that her state's position is that only the Russian Federation is responsible for its actions that violate the norms of international law, it is the Russian army that commits these terrible actions and crimes in Ukraine.
"Therefore, we in the West should not take responsibility for this. Of course, we are responsible for our actions, but there is nothing that would justify Russia's actions in recent months or years in this direction," the minister noted.
She reminded that over the past 20 years, the West has tried to include Russia in various types of cooperation.
"There were so many attempts at the political level, as well as in trade and economy - and what did it lead to? We were unable to prevent first the seizure of Crimea, and then Russia's invasion of Ukraine," the head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry continued.
