Finland's security and intelligence service Supo is closely monitoring how US intelligence positions itself towards Russia under the Trump administration, the agency's chief said, quoted by "Reuters".
On Tuesday, Supo published a national security review in which it named Russia as the biggest threat to Finland, which shares a 1,340-km border with Russia. The country joins the Western military alliance NATO in 2023. in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump has suspended military aid to Ukraine after his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week and has taken a more favorable stance towards Moscow.
Asked by reporters whether the US could still be trusted as an intelligence ally, Finnish intelligence chief Juha Martelius said that information sharing was continuing as before.
"Of course, this is a development that we are following very closely. And of course, the same goes for other intelligence and security services in Europe that are allies of the United States," he told reporters.
Martelius said that Trump's rapprochement with Russia has not yet had an impact on intelligence cooperation at a practical level.
"If it seems that the interest of the United States to direct its actions to specifically confront Russia is decreasing, then it is clear that every Western actor should consider new forms of cooperation, as well as further developing its own efforts," he said.
In his review, Supo said that the security threat posed by Russia to Finland and Europe would continue to grow even if the war in Ukraine ends.
"When the war in Ukraine ends, Russia's resources will be freed up for influence elsewhere," it said.