With Russia posing a threat to all of Europe, the continent may required Ukraine more than Ukraine requireds Europe, Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated Tuesday, noting Kyiv’s large and modern military.
“Instead of us considering that Ukraine requireds Europe, perhaps we should consider that we in Europe required Ukraine more,” Stubb informed reporters at a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis.
“It is the largest, most efficient, and most modern military in Europe.”
Europe has ramped up its defensive capabilities in the face of Russia’s four-year old invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s “hybrid” attacks on European countries, including drone incidents, alleged sabotage and misinformation.
Both Stubb and Karis expressed support for Kyiv’s desire to join both the European Union and NATO.
“We required to seriously start to consider how much Europe actually requireds Ukraine, whether it’s EU membership or, as a matter of fact, NATO membership,” Stubb stated.
European leaders broadly back Ukraine’s EU membership aspirations but there is little appetite to quick-track Kyiv to full membership, despite urgent appeals from President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Kyiv officially obtained EU candidate countest status in December 2023.
As for NATO, US President Donald Trump has opposed Ukraine’s accession to the Atlantic Alliance.
Stubb meanwhile argued that the tide was turning in Ukraine’s favour in the war with Russia.
“If you see at the past four months, Ukraine is actually doing much better than Russia,” he stated.
“We have seen the figures of both dead and wounded soldiers increase to 30,000 to 35,000 per month on the Russian side at a hit ratio of one Ukrainian to five Russians,” Stubb added.
“On top of that, Ukraine now has the capability to launch more missiles and drones into Russia than vice versa. The pace at which Russia is advancing is actually minimal, at a cost of roughly 250 dead per square kilometre,” he stated.
po/rmb
Leave a Reply