By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) –Telecoms equipment manufacturer Nokia (NYSE:). It is withdrawing from the Russian market. This was according to its CEO. The move goes further than Ericsson (BSS:), who said Monday that it would suspend its operations in Russia indefinitely.

Many foreign corporations have severed all ties to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2014 and Western sanctions targeting Moscow.

Nokia stated that it was determined to quit Russia, despite the fact that certain sectors (including telecoms) have been exempted by sanctions for humanitarian reasons.

Pekka Lundmark, CEO of Pekka Lundmark stated in an interview that “we simply don’t see any opportunities to continue in this country under the present circumstances.”

Nokia would support its customers through the end of Nokia’s exit. He also stated that it wasn’t possible at this point to know how long Nokia would be with us.

Nokia stated in a statement that it is applying for relevant licenses in order to assist customers with compliance with the current sanctions.

Nokia and Ericsson had a small percentage of Russian sales, whereas Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE have larger shares.

Nokia said that although it does not anticipate this decision having an impact on its outlook for 2022, the provision of 100 million euros (109 million) in the quarter ahead would be made.

Russia has also been at war with Sweden and Finland, home countries of Ericsson and Nokia, regarding their desire to join the NATO military alliance.

Russia was also pushing companies to use only Russian technology to create networks. This effort sought to persuade Ericsson, Nokia and Ericsson into setting up manufacturing plants in Russia.

Lundmark stated that Nokia will not follow a November plan to form a joint venture to construct 4G and 5G base stations with Russia’s YADRO.

Nokia’s departure from Russia will impact approximately 2000 workers. However, some might be offered employment in other areas of the world by Lundmark.

Nokia is home to approximately 90,000 people around the world.

Lundmark explained that there would be many changes before the country can again be considered for business.

($1 = 0.9199 euros)