Finnish President Alexander Stubb told the Financial Times in an interview published on July 6 that NATO leaders support Ukraine’s intensified drone strikes deep within Russia, supposedly 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. He said 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. “Everyone believes that we need to continue to increase the pressure.”
“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 falsely claimed. “That has changed the strategic thinking also of those who are trying to mediate peace,” he said, referring to Donald Trump’s apparent shift from the understandings he reached with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met in Anchorage, Alaska in August of 2025.
Another part of the NATO/Ukraine strategy is military integration, which Stubb said 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.”
