While there are little surviving documents, some post-war research indicate that the Finns realised that the Soviet Union was not falling late autumn 1941. The Finnish III. Corps (two Finnish and one German division) held its attacks despite the Germans reinforcing it and urging the Finns to continue their attack to cut the Murmansk railroad. It has been speculated and claimed that US and British diplomatic pressure (indicating an unfavourable treatment of Finland after an Allied victory in case the Finns cut the Murmansk railroad) caused President Ryti and Field Marshal Mannerheim to inform Lieutenant General Siilasvuo (in command of III. Corps) that a continued offensive was not in Finland's best interest.

After the offensive phase of the Continuation War (summer-autumn 1941), the Finns demobilised parts of their army since their agriculture and industry needed the labout (the Finns had mobilised over 12% of their population in Summer 1941), weathered a Soviet winter offensive in early 1942 and dug in for a long war.

The Finns hoped that the Germans would destroy the Soviets, or at least force them to a for Finland favourable peace, but this hope turned increasingly bleak as the war progressed.

The Finns started to build three defensive lines behind their front on the Karelian Isthmus,, the VT line, the VKT line and the Salpa line. See here for a map of the lines. The VKT line used the same natural hinders (lakes and rivers) as the Eastern part of the Mannerheim line had used.

Finland was dependent on Germany for deliveries of grain, fertilizer, coal and nitrates for gunpowder production and had the whole German 20. Gebirgsarmee on its territory - while the Finns probably wanted out of the war as early as Summer 1943, they had no real way to exit it without disastrous consequences before autumn 1944.