According to Russia, freezing the accounts of Finnish embassies is a retaliatory step.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that Finland is currently investigating the freezing of the accounts of its Russian embassies and related details such as Russia’s claims about Finland’s activities. The matter is being clarified with the Russian authorities.
According to the Kremlin, Russia has responded with its actions to “unfriendly” actions directed at Russia by the West. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the issue at a press conference on Thursday. The matter was reported by Reuters, among others.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also said on Wednesday that the freezing of Finnish embassies’ accounts was a retaliatory measure. He claimed that access to banking services by Russian embassies in Finland would be limited.
The Russian embassy published a press release on Wednesday, according to which Russia has “repeatedly warned” the Foreign Ministry of Finland about retaliatory measures.
Read more: Kremlin comments on freezing Finnish embassies’ accounts
The foreign ministry says Finland has not restricted access to banking services of Russian embassies or frozen accounts. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland has tried to secure the use of bank services by Russian embassies.
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto commented on the situation on Wednesday, referring to the Vienna Convention, which governs diplomatic relations between the countries. According to the agreement, the target country, in this case Russia, should facilitate the tasks of missions of various countries operating on its soil.
Read more: Russia freezes bank accounts of Finnish embassies – Haavisto: a note on the matter
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland has also commented to IS that Finland has attempted to facilitate the operation of Russian missions in Finland in accordance with the Vienna Convention.
Notification of the freezing of Finland’s bank accounts in Russia was received on 27 April, and Finland gave a note to Russia regarding the matter on 4 May.
