Russia lodges formal protest with Finland over closure of border crossings

Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday it had lodged a formal protest with the Finnish ambassador in Moscow over Helsinki's closure of four busy border crossings with Russia, a step it said impacted tens of thousands of people in both countries.

Finland on Saturday closed the crossing points as it sought to halt a flow of asylum seekers it said was instigated by Moscow, an allegation Russia has denied.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said that Finland's decision had been "rushed" and that it violated the rights and interests of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the countries' shared border.