Stoltenberg, Swedish, Finnish leaders discuss situation around Ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he had phone calls with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson to discuss a build-up of Russian forces around Ukraine.

According to Ukrinform, Stoltenberg wrote about this on his Twitter account.

"I spoke with President Sauli Niinisto about the security situation in Europe and Russia's build-up in and around Ukraine. We call on Russia to de-escalate. We continue to coordinate with our close partner Finland. NATO respects the right of every country to choose its own path," he wrote.

Stoltenberg also raised the same question in his call with Andersson. According to him, they spoke about "Russia's military build-up in and around Ukraine and European security."

According to Stoltenberg, the military alliance supports every nation's right to freely choose their own security arrangements.

Earlier it was reported that the foreign ministers of NATO member states will hold an extraordinary online meeting on January 7 due to Russia's military build-up near Ukraine's borders.

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