ALONG THE FINNISH-RUSSIA BORDER — On a current afternoon, an assault from Russian army bases a number of miles from right here appeared a distant prospect.

That’s not solely as a result of, as NATO’s latest member, Finland now enjoys the assured safety of 30 nations, together with the United States — a growth that President Biden will have fun throughout a go to to Helsinki this week.

It’s additionally as a result of a lot of the Russians as soon as stationed within the space went to combat in Ukraine, and lots of if not most of them, Finnish officers say, are lifeless. It could also be years earlier than Russia poses a traditional army risk from throughout the verdant forest of pine, spruce and birch.

But there have been some Russians to be seen on a sunny June day on the Vaalimaa border crossing, about halfway between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. A trickle got here and went, many in costly automobiles: an Audi Q7, a black BMW with two modern bikes mounted on a rack. These Russians had been doubtless twin passport holders, probably headed to different European nations that they will attain solely by land due to flight restrictions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine final yr.

For anybody making an attempt to cross the border illicitly, border guard foot patrols roam the woods. But their trail-sniffing canines encounter few Russians making an attempt to sneak into Finland. Perhaps the largest concern on this afternoon was a black bear seen prowling the world.

The peaceable scene belied the concern amongst many Finns that regardless of Russia’s weakened state, this transit level, and their nation, might sooner or later turn into a Russian goal. That anxiousness prompted Finland to hunt membership within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization final yr, a course of accomplished in April when Finland grew to become its thirty first member in what Mr. Biden calls a strategic blow for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

That transfer infused an extended, placid relationship between Moscow and Helsinki with sharp new tensions.