China Won’t Allow Putin To Nuke Ukraine, Finnish President Says

Russian forces will not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine – and Chinese leaders have guaranteed it, the President of Finland says.Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he met face-to-face with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi earlier this summer. During the meeting, Mr. Stubb asked Mr. Yi about the possibility that Russia could use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.“And he said, ‘We will never allow it to happen,’” Mr. Stubb said Mr. Yi told him. “And I think that’s a pretty good deterrent.”Mr. Stubb also believes the tide of the Ukraine war has turned convincingly in favor of Ukraine.“Ukraine is on top and they will win this war,” he said, “and I think the Americans understand this. And now it’s a question of, how do you make the Russians understand this.”Mr. Stubb spoke out during a wide-ranging interview conducted in English with Paul Ronzheimer, a German journalist who works for the German newspaper Bild.During the interview, Mr. Stubb said he believes Ukraine will survive its fight against Russia and emerge as an independent, sovereign state that will eventually join the European Union and then NATO. He said Russian and Ukrainian efforts at taking Ukrainian territory have roughly equalized, though 250,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in 2026 so far. Three Russian soldiers die for every one Ukranian soldier who is killed, Mr. Stubb said.“I do feel like the American administration is realizing quite strongly that Ukraine is not going to lose this war,” Mr. Stubb said.Mr. Stubb also downplayed intelligence estimates that Russia would test NATO in the near future or attack in the next several years. Russian saber-rattling is more about controlling the narrative than preparing a military escalation, he said.“We have to make one thing clear: Russia is very good at the information war,” Mr. Stubb said in the interview. “So Russia wants us Europeans to sit here and discuss ‘will Russia escalate? Will Russia use nuclear weapons? Will Russia attack NATO?’”Finland shares a more than 800-mile long border with Russia and joined NATO in 2023.“The world is not black and white,” Mr. Stubb said. “And actually, war is not black and white anymore. So the line between war and peace has been blurred. I mean, in Finnish we say it’s like a line that you draw into water. And it moves, it’s malleable in one direction and another.”“I don’t think Russia would want to attack the most powerful military alliance in the world in the form of NATO,” Mr. Stubb said.Last week, CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit to Moscow that became highly publicized. In the days following the trip, conflicting leaks from administration sources alternatively said the trip was to deliver a warning not to attack NATO, to impress upon the Russians the dire state of their war in Ukraine, or to revive negotiations to end the war peacefully. President Trump called the trip “standard business” but the administration has offered little detail on what was discussed. The Kremlin said last week that Mr. Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials, but not with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Mr. Stubb has not been briefed on the meeting but said “I am sure there are messages that were conveyed” and indicated he believed the Moscow meeting was more about a Ukrainian peace plan.In June in the UK, resigning defense secretary John Healey said publicly NATO intelligence had warned of a Russian attack on NATO “as soon as 2030.” German intelligence has warned of a Russian attack on NATO by 2029.Mr. Stub downplayed both estimates.“If anyone had that crystal ball, great,” he said. “I just don’t see the evidence and the facts for that, and I think what we do need to do is to prepare for different types of scenarios.”Mr. Stubb said his belief is backed up by Finnish intelligence assessments. He does believe that Russia may mobilize its military further after state Duma elections in September to try and take back the advantage on the Ukrainian battlefield.Mr. Stubb has forged an unexpectedly close relationship with President Donald Trump. Through golf course meetings and deals over 11 icebreakers, Mr. Stubb has a warm relationship with the president that is unique among European heads of state.Last October, the president said the US military would “vigorously” defend Finland if the nation was attacked by Russia.In the interview, Mr. Stubb stuck with his nation’s “cool, calm and collected” approach to Russia.“Our border is very secure,” he said. “It’s about as secure as it gets in Europe.”Mr. Stubb urged his fellow NATO leaders not to panic over the threat posed by Russia.“We just need to calm down,” Mr. Stubb said. “I’m not saying relax. Always prepare for the worst, in order to avoid it, so be more Finnish in your thinking. Don’t be too dramatic.”

China Won’t Allow Putin To Nuke Ukraine, Finnish President Says

China Won’t Allow Putin To Nuke Ukraine, Finnish President Says

More from the New York Sun

UN Committee Declares Countries Legally Obligated To Provide Reparations for the Slave Trade

As Anti-Israel Animus Surges and Turkey Threatens, Greece Signs Deal With Jewish State for $3 Billion ‘Achilles Shield’

John Galliano Withdraws From Met Gala Exhibition Amid Mounting Backlash

‘A Perfect Spy,’ John le Carré’s Masterpiece, Turns 40

Commanders Sell ‘Redskins’ Gear They Promised Never To Use Again

‘The Dog Stars’ Barks Fitfully, but Lacks Bite

Democrats Weigh Whether Promising Another Trump Impeachment Will Hurt More Than Help

‘Security Nightmare’ of Trump Visit to Dublin Looms as Burnham Incites Row Over United Ireland

More from the New York Sun

UN Committee Declares Countries Legally Obligated To Provide Reparations for the Slave Trade

As Anti-Israel Animus Surges and Turkey Threatens, Greece Signs Deal With Jewish State for $3 Billion ‘Achilles Shield’

John Galliano Withdraws From Met Gala Exhibition Amid Mounting Backlash

‘A Perfect Spy,’ John le Carré’s Masterpiece, Turns 40

Commanders Sell ‘Redskins’ Gear They Promised Never To Use Again

‘The Dog Stars’ Barks Fitfully, but Lacks Bite

Democrats Weigh Whether Promising Another Trump Impeachment Will Hurt More Than Help

‘Security Nightmare’ of Trump Visit to Dublin Looms as Burnham Incites Row Over United Ireland