According to journalists, the telegram was sent on January 20 from the US Embassy in Helsinki to Washington.
It hints that “in some quarters” there is concern that using any version of the term “Article 5” in relation to Ukraine's defense “could weaken its deterrent potential” and undermine the authority of the collective defense clause, which is the basis of the NATO military alliance.
In Art. Article 5 of the Washington Treaty states that if one NATO member state becomes the victim of an armed attack, the remaining NATO member states will consider this an attack on all NATO countries and will respond to it.
Journalists claim that the issue of mentioning “Article 5” was raised by Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen both during her visit to Washington on January 19 (then she met with members of the US House of Representatives) and at later meetings.
The telegram says that Valtonen warned that wording similar to Art. 5 of the Washington Treaty could lead to a “mixing of NATO guarantees” and promises given to Ukraine, the media writes.
It notes that other Finnish politicians have previously said that they want to help Ukraine defend itself, but the concept of a security guarantee is “a more serious issue that they are not yet ready to agree to.”
An anonymous Politico source among Finnish officials said that Helsinki’s long-standing goal is for Ukraine to become a NATO member. He refused to comment on the wording about “Article 5”.
The media listed several reasons why Europe may be dissatisfied with this formulation regarding guarantees to Ukraine. For example, that the illegitimate President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin can use the example of Ukraine to try to test what a security promise “like Article 5” actually means.
Rachel Ellehuus, a former Pentagon employee during the time of President Joe Biden, who worked at NATO, suggested that Helsinki’s request to Washington is due to the fact that “the Finns do not want to make empty promises.”
Context
In December 2025 Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky announced a possible conclusion bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States. “They formulate it as Article 5 mirror (analogous to Article 5) – that is, the same as Article 5, what is in NATO,” he said.
