Finland's President Sauli Niinisto held telephone talks on Saturday with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over his country's decision to join NATO.

Niinisto announced on Thursday that Finland would officially apply for NATO membership.

The Finnish presidential office said the phone call was initiated by the Finnish side.

The office said Niinisto told Putin that Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demand to halt NATO's expansion have fundamentally changed the security environment surrounding Finland.

The Finnish president said, "The conversation was direct and straight-forward and it was conducted without aggravations."

The Kremlin said Putin "stressed that abandoning the traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake, since there are no threats to Finland's security."

Moscow also criticized Finland's decision by saying, "Such a change in the country's foreign policy may have a negative impact on Russian-Finnish relations."