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Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg at the end of April
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The Finnish government has decided to join NATO.
In a telephone conversation with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the planned move as a mistake.
Russia does not pose a threat to the neighboring country, Putin said at the talks on Saturday, according to the Kremlin.
The Russian President warned that Finland's departure from traditional neutrality would lead to a deterioration in the good neighborly relations that have been in place until now.
The talks came about on the initiative of the Finnish President to explain the decision to join NATO in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
»The conversation was open and direct, but was conducted without intensification.
It was considered important to avoid tensions," Niinistö said, according to the Finnish Presidential Office website.
Finland shares a 1300 km border with Russia.
On Thursday, President Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin declared that they wanted to pave the way for Finland to join NATO.
They made it clear that the formal resolutions still required for a corresponding application should be made shortly.
The reason given was the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
On Saturday, the leading body of the Social Democrats - the party of Prime Minister Marin - spoke out in favor of their country becoming a member of NATO.
This means that a broad majority in parliament is in favor of joining NATO.
Although the decision on such an application initially lies solely with Niinistö and Marin's government, parliamentary approval would be required before actual accession.
The war has also led to a change of opinion in the population of the country, which has been non-aligned for decades, so that a majority of Finns is now in favor of membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
fdi/dpa