Finnish president: Ending war in Ukraine too expensive for Russia

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Russia is unwilling to end the war in Ukraine because, for Vladimir Putin, it is “too expensive.” 

He made remarks during his speech at the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos, organised by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin has failed on all strategic aims, Caliber.Az reports.

“Number one, he wanted to take over Ukraine and make it Russian — he failed. He will not take over Ukraine, and Ukraine will become a member of the European Union, Number two, he wanted to prevent the enlargement of NATO. He got two substantive military powers into the Alliance and doubled his border with the Alliance, because Finland joined,” Stubb stated.

He highlighted staggering Russian losses over the 1,000 days of the conflict: “Russia has advanced a maximum of 1% of Ukrainian territory. Today, the cost of that is 1,000 dead soldiers per day. That’s 3,000 roughly per month. This is dead, not only wounded and on the Russian side,” the president emphasised.

Stubb noted that Russia’s economy is also suffering significantly due to the ongoing fighting. The Finnish leader added that he does not believe Russia refuses to end the war because it thinks it can achieve its goals; rather, for President Putin, the cost is too high, as he cannot account for Russian soldiers. Stubb emphasised that Europe’s main dilemma is determining how to compel Russia to stop the conflict.

The president noted that the European Union must continue to support Ukraine in every possible way and increase economic pressure on Russia.

By Jeyhun Aghazada