"Russia has never threatened Finland in modern history. We had no reason for confrontation," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. The tone intensified further after Finland announced a few days before Christmas that it was initiating a new defense agreement with the USA, granting the country access to 15 bases on Nordic soil. Both Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year after Russia initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, fundamentally shaking the security situation in Europe. Sweden's application is still pending approval, while Finland formally joined the defense alliance as a...