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FT Nato backs Ukraine’s push to hit Russia harder, says Finnish president
Источник: www.ft.com | Фото взято из оригинала статьи или из открытых источников
07.07.26 | 9
Nato leaders support Ukraine’s intensified drone strikes deep within Russia as part of efforts to force Moscow back to the negotiating table, Finland’s president has said, arguing that Kyiv is in the “best” position since the war began. Alexander Stubb told the FT that despite worries about possible Russian nuclear escalation, the Ukrainian campaign had changed US strategic thinking on the war and bolstered Kyiv’s negotiating position. “I think that [all Nato leaders] understand why Ukraine is doing this,” said Stubb. “Everyone believes that we need to continue to increase the pressure.” Stubb spoke to the FT on the eve of the Nato leaders’ summit in Ankara, where support for Ukraine will be discussed as Kyiv’s successful missile and drone strikes appear to have strengthened its case among western backers. “We are in a fairly good place when it comes to Ukraine because everyone, including our American friends, sees that Ukraine is right now on top on the battlefield,” Stubb said. “That has changed the strategic thinking also of those who are trying to mediate peace.”

“Ukraine is in a better position, militarily, politically and financially, than they have been at any time in this war. That is why we are seeing a lot of uneasy activity in Russia right now,” he added. Ukraine’s deep strikes into Russia have brought the Kremlin’s war closer to home than ever in an effort that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said was meant to “compel” Moscow to end its invasion.

“When war becomes personal . . . the Russian population is going to turn against it. This gives us an opportunity to get back to the negotiating table, which I think we all desperately want,” said Stubb. “We all want to end this war.”“China and some Nato allies were initially nervous about Ukraine’s desire to conduct long-range strikes on Russia, fearful of possible escalation from Moscow in response. “The steps of escalation are always possible and we look at different scenarios,” Stubb said. He added that he met Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi this weekend “and when the nuclear escalation issue came up, the answer was very firm from the Chinese side and involved plenty of red flags”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has regularly made public remarks about the country’s vast nuclear arsenal and has vaguely hinted that European countries will face consequences for supporting Ukraine. Last Friday, Putin told his top military commander to assess Ukraine’s western allies’ “engagement in hostilities”. He said Russia “needed this analysis for possible responsible decision-making in the future,” without elaborating. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, told state television that western support for Ukraine had turned Putin’s “special military operation,” Russia’s euphemism for the invasion, into “a real war”. Western countries “are helping [Ukraine] strike our targets with their satellites and aim western armaments at them through all their infrastructure,” Peskov said in comments broadcast on Sunday. Ukraine’s strikes were aimed at “creating the image” that Kyiv is in a position “to exert some pressure” on Russia for its western supporters, he added. Stubb said Europe had to be on alert for more Russian provocations, especially if there was a potential ceasefire in Ukraine: “I think we have to be realistic and say that in the short term there will be hybrid attacks on Europe. We see these almost on a daily basis. “In the long term, what we are doing is preparing for a scenario where Russia . . . might want to attack Europe,” he added. “After the war, Russia will reconstitute troops, especially up in the north [of Europe]. We know that and we see that. We are realistic about it.” On Monday morning, Russia launched its second major air attack on the Ukrainian capital in less than a week, killing at least 11 people. That barrage came just three days after the deadliest Russian bombardment of Kyiv this year killed 31 people. The Ukrainian strikes come as the Russian army’s ground offensive has slowed to a bloody grind, with forces suffering enormous casualties on the battlefield. The Russian army lost around 9 sq km of territory in Ukraine in June, according to calculations by Black Bird Group, a Finland-based organisation that tracks the war. The last time Russia posted net losses in territory inside Ukraine was in 2023, the group said. “Our reading is that Russia will not end this war due to losses on the battlefield, which of course are colossal,” said Stubb. “It’s not going to be about a declining economy. But it is going to be about a change in public opinion. And public opinion is now changing in Russia.”

A debate on Ukraine’s bid to join Nato, which was in the past blocked by the US and Germany in particular, has been deferred until after a possible ceasefire, with many Nato allies still wary of that potential move. But Stubb said that integrating Ukraine’s defence industry with Nato allies was the best and fastest way to ensure the country had a membership-like status and would be in the best position to potentially join in the future. “If I had a choice, we would make Ukraine into a Nato member immediately. But I’m realistic that that’s not on the political cards,” he said. “But my main point is that Nato needs Ukraine as much as Ukraine needs Nato.” “Their capabilities in drones and missiles are superior to those of most members in the alliance. And I actually think that the closer we bring Ukraine to the alliance, the stronger the defence and the deterrence of the alliance is,” he added. Finland joined Nato in the quickest-ever membership process in 2023. Stubb said that Ukraine should copy Finland’s approach, which saw the country adopt Nato standards for weapons even before it was a member. “Some of the grey areas are of course confidential, but all I can tell you is that Finland was outside of Nato . . . [but] we were able to create Nato-compatible defence systems so that when we applied for membership . . . So I don’t see that as a problem for [Ukraine].” Ukraine could be integrated “even more” than Finland was pre-membership, Stubb added: “They have knowledge and capability of modern warfare that we don’t have . . . In terms of modern warfare capabilities, Ukraine is number one.”

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