Kremlin said today that the decision to freeze the bank accounts of his embassy and consulate Finland V Russia it is a response to what he called the unfriendly actions of the “collective West”, including Finland.

Officials from Finland and Denmark said yesterday that the bank accounts of both countries’ diplomatic missions in Russia had been frozen, prompting their embassies to pay in cash.

Finland, which borders Russia, officially joined NATO on April 4 in a historic political shift resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.” Since then, Russian embassies across Europe have run into problems with their bank accounts and, in some cases, funds have been confiscated to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.

“We always respond to unfriendly actions”

Commenting on the freezing of bank accounts of Finnish diplomatic missions in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “This is not an initiative from the Russian side. We are reacting to the situation created by the authorities of many countries of the collective West, including, unfortunately, Finland.”

Peskov said that Russia never leaves “unfriendly actions” as he described them unanswered.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters yesterday that Helsinki sent a message to the Russian authorities on May 4 asking Russia to allow diplomatic missions to operate in Russia and get an official explanation for this “freeze”, but has not yet received any updates. .

Peskov said that Moscow would respond.

“We will respond to the message by reiterating that the principle of reciprocity and the principle of an adequate response to unfriendly actions will continue to dominate our relations,” he said.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}