Exercise before application: NATO sends three battleships to Finland

Lithuanian miners, LVNS Virsais, Estonian mine tracker ENS Sakala and Dutch ship HNLMS Scheeda, will be trained with two mine trackers from Finland's fleet, Finnish Protection Forces have announced, writes The Guardian, and Periscope is followed.

The two-day exercise will prepare Finnish ships to participate in NATO response forces and focus on “measures against mines and on the work of a multinational framework”, the Finnish forces announced.

The announcement comes at the time when Helsinki is considering the possibility of membership in the military alliance in moments of mounting tensions with its neighbour, Russia. Earlier this month, Finland's prime minister, Sanna Marin, has said her country will make a decision on whether to join NATO in the coming weeks.