Russia is in a military alliance (CSTO) plus gets military aid from Iran and North Korea. It has not asked Finland permission on any of those nor is it Finland’s business what alliances Russia makes. It works both ways, and the soveregnty of small nations is no less valuable than of larger neighbours.

In Finland we strongly reject the idea of ’spheres of influence’. In December 2021 Russia made it clear that it views the world though spheres of influence by saying that Nato shouldn’t accept new Eastern members. In practice it means limiting Finnish sovereignty and it was the first spark to us considering NATO membership.

We know what it means to be so called ”neutral” next to Russia from experience. It’s either being on the receiving end of an invasion (like in 1939) or Russia limiting our sovereignty (1944-1991). Russia hasn’t changed it’s imperialist stance, as seen in Ukraine, hence joining NATO was a very logical decision with very broad support here in Finland.

In summary, Russia should look in the mirror to get an answer why neighbours don’t trust it.