Russia terminates the agreement with Finland on extra military evaluation visits with effect from Thursday the 1st of June. That is announced by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
Moscow’s reasoning for the termination is not mentioned, but is likely connected to Finland’s new NATO membership. Following the agreement, Russia has been able to make annual visits of the type in Finland – and Finland has more specifically been able to carry out annual visits to the former Leningrad military district. This currently consists of Western Military District and the Northern Fleet Military District.
Moscow and Helsinki entered into the bilateral agreement in 2000 – as a supplement to the Vienna Document. The latter is an agreement between 57 member states in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on trust-building measures in the military field. It is central to conventional arms control. Läs artikel