Urho Kekkonen

Urho Kekkonen (1900-1986) was Finnish ambassador to the Soviet Union. In 1966 he met with Soviet General Secretary Vyacheslav Molotov. Molotov, who remembered the Finnish defeat of the Red Army in the Winter War of 1940, Finland's alliance with the Axis in World War II, and alignment with Germany ever afterward, had long looked forward to extorting Finland into entering the Soviet sphere of influence and saw Germany's recent defeat at the hands of the Race. Kekkonen turned the tables on Molotov by announcing that Finland had entered into negotiations with the Race to establish a Race military presence in Finland, giving them yet another staging area along the Soviet border in the event of a war between the Race and the Soviets.