Factbox-A brief history of Finland's and Sweden's strained ties with Russia

FILE PHOTO: Flags wave outside the Alliance headquarters ahead of a NATO Defence Ministers meeting, in Brussels, Belgium, October 21, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

Finland and Sweden, who are expected to decide this week to apply to join NATO, have long had strained ties with their giant neighbour Russia.

- Sweden's and Finland's difficult past with Russia goes back to 17th and 18th centuries when tsars of the Russian Empire repeatedly tried to conquer Finland, then a hinterland of the Swedish kingdom.