Von der Leyen: EU working on joint Russia response

Russia has forced the U.S.-led NATO alliance and the 57-member Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to negotiate over regional security by massing around 100,000 troops near Ukraine while denying it plans to invade.

Standing alongside Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Helsinki, Von der Leyen told reporters that the EU would be united in its stance as per the bloc's membership treaty.

Earlier this week, Russia wrote to NATO and OSCE member countries, including Finland, asking for legally binding security guarantees.

Marin said all states wanted "Russia to de-escalate the situation."

Finland, which shares the EU's longest external border with Russia and is not a member of U.S.-led NATO, has looked with growing concern at its neighbour's increasing aggressiveness.