The Russian invasion

Russian invasionRussian reactions  

 

Putin: The war in Ukraine a tragedy - should end  

 

At the ongoing G20 meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin says it is time to think about ending the "tragedy", referring to the war in Ukraine, Reuters reports.  

 

The comment came after several of the G20 leaders said they were shocked by Russia's aggression in Ukraine.  

 

- Of course we have to think about how to put an end to this tragedy, Putin replied. 

 

 The Russian president also called the invasion of Ukraine a "war". It was not the first time the president used the word to describe the situation in Ukraine, which is officially called a "special military operation" by the Kremlin.  

 

Ukraine has repeatedly said that it does not agree to peace negotiations where the country is forced to make concessions.  

 

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Russian invasionFinland's NATO membership  

 

Russia warns of crisis at the Finnish border  

 

The situation for hundreds of asylum seekers waiting at a border crossing from Russia to Finland risks developing into a "humanitarian crisis", according to Russian authorities.  

 

- Roughly 300 people from more than 10 countries have been waiting not for hours, but for days to cross the border, says Andrey Chibis, leader of the Russian region of Murmansk, which borders Finland, to AFP.  

 

According to him, there is severe cold and snow at the border. 

 

Finland has accused Russia of trying to destabilize the country after it applied for NATO membership. Last week, Finland closed several border crossings with its neighbor to the east. According to YLE, the Finnish government may decide today to close all but one of the remaining crossings. 

 

Over 600 people without valid travel documents have come to Finland from Russia during November. The Kremlin denies that they were behind the sudden increase.  

 

- We demand that Russia stop sending people to our border, says Valtonen.

 

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Finland closes all but one border crossing to Russia 

 

Finland is closing all border stations with Russia except one in Lapland, the country's government announced at a press conference. 

 

- The situation along the border is still worsening, says Prime Minister Petteri Orpo. 

 

The border station that is still open is located in Raja-Jooseppi, roughly at the height of Murmansk on the Russian side and north of Kiruna on the Swedish side.  

 

Earlier on Wednesday, Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said that the country has evidence that the Russian border patrol is sending migrants to the country, in an interview with Reuters.  

 

She then said that there are discussions about closing the entire border.