Finland's defense minister rejects Russia's NATO exit demands as non-negotiable

Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said Russia's demands for Finland to leave NATO and reduce alliance presence in Eastern Europe are non-negotiable, calling them an "outrageous" test of Western resolve. Häkkänen told Bloomberg that Moscow used recent trilateral talks with Ukraine and the US to probe Western flexibility, adding Russia is not serious about peace but seeks to reshape European security architecture in its favor. He urged Western politicians to recognize Moscow's actions as part of a decades-long "psychological strategy" and not fall for its bluff, following reports that Russia also demanded written guarantees against NATO expansion.