HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finland’s security and intelligence service Supo is closely watching how U.S. intelligence positions itself towards Russia under the Trump administration, Supo’s chief said on Tuesday.
Supo on Tuesday published a national security review in which it named Russia as the biggest threat to Finland, which shares a 1,340-km (833-mile) border with Russia and joined Western military alliance NATO in 2023 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump has paused military aid to Ukraine following his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week and has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Moscow.
Asked by reporters if the U.S. could still be trusted as an intelligence ally, Finnish intelligence chief Juha Martelius said information exchanges continued as before.
“Of course, this is a development that we are following very closely. And of course, so are other intelligence and security services in Europe that are allies of the United States,” he told reporters.
Martelius said Trump’s rapprochement with Russia had not yet had an impact on intelligence cooperation on a practical level.
“If it seems that the United States’ interest in directing its actions to concretely counter Russia is waning, then it is clear that each Western actor must consider new forms of cooperation and also further development of their own efforts,” he said.
In its review, Supo said the security threat posed by Russia against Finland and Europe would continue to grow, even if the war in Ukraine came to an end.
“When the war in Ukraine ends, Russia’s resources will be freed up for influence elsewhere,” it said.
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by Ros Russell)
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