Finnish President: Security Guarantees For Ukraine Require Readiness To Fight Russia
- 21.09.2025, 9:05
The deterrent must be strong and believable.
Security guarantees for Ukraine being discussed by a "coalition of the willing" would mean commitments by European countries that sign them to go to war with Russia if Moscow launches military action against Ukraine again.
This is according to an interview with Finnish President Alexander Stubb with The Guardian.
The essence of security guarantees for Ukraine
"Security guarantees are essentially a deterrent. That deterrent has to be credible, and for it to be credible it has to be strong," Stubb said before traveling to New York for the U.N. General Assembly.
He noted that the guarantees would only come into effect after a future agreement between Ukraine and Russia, but emphasized that Russia would not have any veto power over their format.
The main question many in Kiev have, however, is whether the agreements will be accompanied by concrete commitments, the publication wrote. Asked whether the guarantees would mean that European countries declare themselves ready for military engagement with Russia in the event of future aggression against Ukraine, Stubb said, "That is the idea of security guarantees by definition."
Finland-U.S. Relations
When asked whether there will come a point when Europe must recognize the unreliability of the United States as an ally in Ukraine negotiations, Stubb said his country has no choice but to try to be friends with the Trump administration as much as possible.
"I think it is the duty of the president of Finland to find common ground with the president of the United States, whoever he is ... Engagement is better than disengagement, under any circumstances," he emphasized.
On security guarantees, the Finnish president said an "American backstop" is needed to make them real, and acknowledged that there is not yet a full understanding of what kind of commitments the Trump administration is willing to make.
Once again, however, talk of guarantees could be purely hypothetical unless progress is first made in negotiating an end to the war, the publication noted.