Finnish President Sauli Niinistö. has discussed the situation in Ukraine with parliamentary party leaders, the president's office said on Monday.
The president briefed the party chairs about his views on the current global political conflict, demands made by both Ukraine and Russia as well as various options to resolve the situation.
The office noted that Niinistö also spoke with party leaders about his views about the security policy debate in Finland, as well as his attitude about Nato. It added that there was open and constructive discussion about the issues.
The Finnish president spent the weekend in Germany, attending the Munich Security Conference.
CNN interview
Looking for some insight into the mindset of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine situation, international news outlets have increasingly been calling on Niinistö, a veteran politician who has a decade of diplomatic relations experience with Putin.
The Finnish president appeared on CNN's State of the Nation programme on Sunday. The show's host, Dana Bash, asked Niinistö whether he thought Russia plans to invade Ukraine.
"I think there are still three alternatives. The first one is that somehow they could settle the issue of Eastern Ukraine, the Minsk agreement and all that, I think that's far off. The second option is that we will see a full-scale war," he said, adding that the third, most likely, option would be seeing tensions between the two countries continue to increase.
Bash asked Niinistö whether he thought Putin was an irrational leader with a large army or a fundamentally rational leader with a strategy.
"This is a very difficult question to me, too. Even though I have met him several times during these 10 years, and had several phone calls with him. Like we all know, it is very difficult to say and define what another person actually is, deep down," he said.
"But so far, I would say that he has behaved in a way which is very difficult to predict. But that also might be intentional — namely to behave in that way, because that brings confusion to the surroundings. As I said, we are a bit confused at the moment," he said.
Colder than Cold War
Niinistö was also asked whether Russia's aggression towards Ukraine raised his concerns about the possibility of Finland becoming its eastern neighbour's next target.
"First of all, we have to remember that Finland is a stable — long-lasting, more than 100 year old — democracy. We are a member of the European Union and surely part of the West. The long border [between Finland and Russia], surely you have to know geography, and you can't do anything about that."
"So, we are not afraid. Not at all. Actually, the situation on the Finnish border, and the whole Baltic Sea area, is quite peaceful. We are not afraid of Russian tanks suddenly crossing the Finnish border," he said.
Referencing a previous statement by the president that the post-Cold War era was definitely over, Bash asked what era the world was currently in.
"I think that we are actually almost in a colder situation than we were during the traditional Cold War. Because, then we had at least some agreements between the United States and Soviet Union limiting arms and so on. Now we do not actually have anything — no agreements anymore. So, this makes the situation, in my opinion, much more vulnerable," Niinistö said.
Nato question
Niinistö was also asked whether the tension between Russia and Ukraine has made Finland reconsider joining Nato.
"There's a lot of discussion about that just now, and I think we will continue that discussion. And depending on what really happens in Ukraine, [the discussion] might even become more lively. But at the moment, at least I don't see any reason for any dramatic, sudden changes. It has to be thoroughly thought [through]," Niinistö told CNN.
Bash asked whether Finland would be more likely to want to join the military alliance if things in Ukraine "heat up," Niinistö said some in Finland were already changing their minds about it.
"A lot also depends on what actually happens in Ukraine and how Russia is going to behave after that. If Russia sees that it's a big success story for them, that makes them more dangerous," Niinistö said.