@stroutqb22:
OK thanks, but could you explain why please?
Not a problem…
Europe 2e manual, page 15, the Powers not at war with one another
box:
When a power is not at war with anyone, it is neutral... ...a neutral power can't move land or air units into or through neutral territories.
This blocks taking Brazil in non-combat movement.
There are two different rules that in combination prevent Russia from just attacking Finland while still neutral. Europe 2e manual, page 10:
Unlike powers, war is never declared on neutral territories- they are simply attacked.
Combine this with the fact that the Europe 2e manual, page 12, defines combat moves as for Powers at war only
, and you discover that no neutral power can attack a neutral territory unless they are at war with another power (and thus no longer neutral), since the combat movement phase can only be done by powers at war, and it requires combat moves to attack a neutral.
Russia is even more restricted than this. On page 36 of the Europe 2e manual you see:
...if the Soviet Union is at war with Axis powers only on one map, it is still under the restrictions of being a neutral power on the other map.
So being at war with Japan only doesn’t allow Russia to hit neutral Finland. They can attack a neutral Finland only when at war with Germany or Italy.