The ministry accused Finland of “encouraging the Kyiv regime to go to war and pumping it with Western weapons means clearly hostile actions against our country.” It also said, “Such a line of the Finnish authorities cannot remain unanswered.”

In June, Finland expelled nine Russians the government said were working for Russian intelligence under diplomatic cover.

The Russian government said the expulsion of Finnish diplomats announced Thursday was “in connection with the expulsion of nine representatives of Russian foreign missions in Finland in June.”

“Finland will expel nine … working at the Embassy of Russia who are members of intelligence personnel,” the Finish Government Communications Department said in a press release in June.

The Finnish government said the diplomats’ “actions are in breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

Tensions between Russia and Finland, which share an 800-mile border, have been escalated dramatically since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Shortly after joining NATO in April, the Finnish Border Guards began a pilot phase of a border fence along the frontier with Russia.

“The barrier fence will not only significantly improve border surveillance in management of disruptions, but also on a wider scale,” district commander Mika Rytkonen said.

The Finnish government hopes the fence eventually will cover 15% of its border with Russia.

U.S. President Joe Biden will attend the 74th NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12, before traveling to Helsinki, Finland, on July 13.

Biden cheered Finland’s NATO membership and said he hopes Sweden soon will clear the obstacles for its own NATO membership.

On Wednesday, Biden hosted Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and told reporters he “fully, fully supports Sweden’s membership in NATO.”