Russia will agree to negotiations on ending the war against Ukraine only when public opposition to the war grows inside Russia itself, while allies must continue strengthening military support for Ukraine.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said this to journalists ahead of the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of heads of state and government in Ankara.
"Our assessment is that Russia will not end this war because of economic difficulties. Russia will not end this war because of the losses among its soldiers. But it will end this war and begin negotiations if it feels that Russian society is starting to oppose the war. That is exactly what we are seeing now," Stubb said.
According to him, the main task for the allies remains maintaining pressure on Russia.
"My call is to continue this pressure and move toward negotiations. I still believe that the best solution is a ceasefire," the Finnish president said.
Stubb also emphasized the need to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense as quickly as possible.
"There are currently two issues regarding Ukraine that we need to focus on. First, from a military, financial, and political perspective, Ukraine is now in a better position than it has been at any point during this war. This is directly linked to its long-range strike capabilities — both with drones and missiles. The other issue is defense and air defense. I believe it is extremely important that we find Patriot missiles and air defense systems for Ukraine and, hopefully, provide the necessary licenses and rights to use the relevant technologies," he said.
The Finnish president noted that the issue of ending the war and future negotiations is constantly being discussed among the allies.
"We discuss this practically every day. Yesterday, I spoke about it with President Erdogan; today I will sit next to President Macron; yesterday I also discussed it with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa. We want to try to strengthen our joint actions. We are now seeing escalation, and we hope that it will ultimately lead to de-escalation and force Russia to come to the negotiating table. I hope for certain results, although today I am not overly optimistic," Stubb said.
