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With the United States halting weapons shipments to Ukraine, “Europeans have to understand that they have to take more of the burden” of supporting Ukraine, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.
“We need to find the right balance where Europeans can help the Ukrainians where perhaps the Americans are leaving a few gaps,” he added.
Stubb spoke at an Atlantic Council Front Page event on Thursday, where he outlined two ways Europe will need to support Ukraine.
“One is to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons that it needs to win this war on the battlefield,” he said. “Two is to increase the pressure on Russia, which really at this particular time means more sanctions.”
Amid stalling Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations, Stubb outlined his vision for the future of the talks, which he said should happen in two phases: the installation of a cease-fire and the “actual peace negotiations,” which should include discussions about territorial settlements, compensation, and reconstruction.
“We have to do this in two phases. You can’t sort of lump everything in together. You’ll get nowhere,” he said.
Below are more highlights from the event, moderated by Atlantic Council President and Chief Executive Officer Frederick Kempe, where the Finnish president also spoke about his takeaways from the 2025 NATO Summit and about US-Finland relations.
A summit for the books
- Stubb said that the summit “will go down in history as the birth of new NATO” for three reasons: 1) the Alliance went “back to its roots” as a “deterrent to a bigger imperial power in Europe”; 2) the allies agreed to spend 5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense and defense-related projects; and 3) NATO began “a bit of a shift” in its balance toward Europe.
- “We’re probably witnessing the birth of a more European NATO,” he said, noting that such a shift fulfills the demands of several consecutive US administrations.
- Stubb said that warnings about the United States possibly withdrawing from NATO are “more hype than anything else” based on his conversations with US President Donald Trump and his administration. “Not once did I hear anyone saying that the US is withdrawing from NATO,” he said.
- But there is significant “burden shifting” underway, which is “a good thing for Europe and for the Alliance right now,” he said. “We’re not going to see a major shift away of the United States towards the Indo-Pacific, but there will be a rebalancing.”
The EU’s new era
- Reflecting on the European Union’s (EU’s) history—during which it has set up a single market, introduced the euro, and addressed global crises such as the war in Ukraine—Stubb said that “the European Union always works on one big project at a time.”
- He added that he believes “the next big project for Europe is going to be in defense,” with EU members navigating how to “pool our sovereignty.” “We have one big problem in Europe, and that is that we buy things separately,” he said, which drives up the price and results in incompatible systems. “We need to rationalize a lot of this stuff.”
- “This is not about replacing the Alliance,” he said, but it is instead about strengthening the military and defense industry.
Breaking the ice
- Stubb recounted his game of golf with Trump in March. “I’m happy that state to state, we have the same values . . . On a personal level, at least I can say that I get along with the president of the United States,” he said.
- During the game, the two leaders reportedly talked about security matters ranging from the war in Ukraine to the procurement of Finnish icebreaker ships. “Trump has stated correctly that the Alliance, including, of course, the United States, needs icebreakers,” Stubb said. “Russia has over forty; and the battle of the Arctic, of course, is really about Russian and Chinese dominance.”
- “We would be very happy to provide a few icebreakers to the US administration before the end of Trump’s term,” he said, adding that one way to do that is to “sell a used icebreaker and then combine that perhaps with building a few new ones.”
- Amid offers from Putin to mediate between Israel and Iran—and to organize an ice hockey series with players from US and Russian leagues—Stubb warned that the United States and its allies cannot decouple diplomacy with Russia from the war in Ukraine. “Remember that Russian soft power is linked to things such as ice hockey,” he said. “Let’s not tarnish and make the game dirty by bringing the Russian league into it in any which way.”
Katherine Golden is an associate director on the Atlantic Council’s editorial team.
Watch the full event
Further reading
Fri, Jun 27, 2025
Four fundamental questions the NATO Summit did not answer
New Atlanticist By Torrey Taussig
Over the coming months, NATO allies will have to wrestle with questions about the US commitment to Europe, their shared approach to China, and more.
Thu, Jun 26, 2025
Dispatch from The Hague: It’s been Trump’s week in Europe and Iran
Inflection Points By Frederick Kempe
What connects the recent events in Iran and at the NATO Summit is that they won’t be remembered for the threats countered but rather for the opportunities seized.
Wed, Jun 25, 2025
Trump warmed to NATO at The Hague. But what about Ukraine?
Fast Thinking By
Allies reiterated their commitment to collective defense. But absent from the communiqué was any mention of how Russia’s war against Ukraine should end.
Image: President of Finland Alexander Stubb speaks to the media upon arriving for the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of heads of state and government during the NATO Summit in The Hague on June 25, 2025. Photo by Emmi Korhonen/Lehtikuva/Sipa USA via Reuters.