Europe probably needs Ukraine more than the other way around in terms of defense and should therefore question its membership in the European Union and NATO, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Tuesday, AFP reports, according to Agerpres.
“Rather than thinking that Ukraine needs Europe, maybe we should think that we in Europe need Ukraine more. It is the biggest, most efficient and most modern army in Europe,” he said at a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart, Alar Karis.
Europe has strengthened its defense capabilities in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now more than four years old, and Moscow's alleged “hybrid attacks” against European countries, particularly alleged acts of sabotage, disinformation and incidents involving drones.
“We need to start seriously asking to what extent Europe really needs Ukraine, whether it's to join the EU or NATO,” Stubb added.
European leaders have recently tempered Kiev's push for Ukraine's early EU membership, despite persistent calls from its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Kiev is pressing its European partners to speed up its EU accession after Ukraine officially gained candidate country status in December 2023.
As for NATO, US President Donald Trump opposes Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Alliance.
Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, the Finnish president appreciated that “in the last four months, Ukraine has done much better than Russia.”
“The number of dead and wounded soldiers rose to 30,000-35,000 per month on the Russian side, with a casualty ratio of 1 Ukrainian to 5 Russians,” he declares.
In addition, “Ukraine now has the ability to launch more missiles and drones at Russia than the other way around. The pace at which Russia is advancing is actually minimal, with a cost of about 250 deaths per square kilometer,” the Finnish president added.
At the same time, the two presidents admitted that some US equipment deliveries to Europe are being delayed by the war in the Middle East, according to Reuters.
The Finnish president stated that some of the US stocks are being shipped elsewhere because of the war in Iran, but he does not consider that to be a concern for Finland.
For his part, the Estonian leader said that his country had been informed about the delays related to the HIMARS missile systems.
“It is a signal that both in Estonia and in Europe in general we should develop our defense industry much, much faster,” said Alar Karis.
As Reuters reported on April 16, citing sources familiar with the matter, US officials have informed some of their European counterparts, including from the Baltic countries and Scandinavia, that some previously contracted arms deliveries are likely to be delayed as the war in the Middle East depletes arms stocks.
