Three NATO Minesweeper Warships Dock In Finnish Port Bordering Russia

JAKARTA - Three North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) warships docked in the Turkish port of southwestern Finland on Monday, as Helsinki considered joining the US-led alliance amid rising tensions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The three warships, the Latvian minesweeper LVNS Virsaitis, the Estonian sapper ENS Sakala and the Dutch HNLMS Schiedam, will train with two sappers from the Finnish coastal fleet, the Finnish defense forces said in a statement.

The two-day exercise, which will begin on April 28, will prepare Finnish vessels to take part in the NATO response force in 2022. The focus is on "deterring mines and working within a multinational framework", the statement said.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on April 13 that her country would make a decision in the next few weeks on whether to register to join NATO, prompting an angry response from Russia.

Finland and neighboring Sweden are close partners of NATO but have avoided joining the 30-member alliance, which was founded in 1949 to fight the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Marin said the option to join NATO should be analyzed carefully. However, everything has changed since Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24. Finland itself shares a 1,300 km (810 mi) land border with Russia.