'Strategic fool and military failure': Stubb on Putin’s war collapse
Photo: President of Finland Alexander Stubb (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
President of Finland Alexander Stubb called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the biggest tactical and strategic mistake in modern history, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
In his view, the Kremlin has suffered defeats on all key fronts set by the Russian dictator.
Russia planned to neutralize Ukraine, but Ukraine is confidently moving toward joining the European Union and NATO. Moscow sought to weaken the North Atlantic Alliance, but after Finland’s accession, it has effectively doubled its shared border with NATO.
Another goal was to undermine the transatlantic partnership, but instead, Western countries are already increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP.
The president emphasizes that Russia also failed to break the unity of the European Union—in fact, the alliance appears more united than ever. Thus, the Kremlin has not achieved any of its geopolitical objectives.
According to the president, Putin has failed on all fronts, despite the war entering its third year.
The Finnish head of state also stressed that Russia is paying an extraordinarily high price for its slow progress in Ukraine.
"This year, he has advanced 0.25 per cent of the Ukrainian land mass at a cost of 167 soldiers dead per kilometre. It’s a pretty damn high price to pay," he said.
What Russia will do next
Stubb suggested that in the next 5 to 10 years, Russia will not become a peaceful democracy and will continue its path of militarization.
"Our base case is very simple. Within the next five to 10 years, two things will hold true with Russia. One is that they will not revert into a peaceful liberal democracy. And second, they will continue a military build-up," the president added.
He also described the Russian president as a "strategic fool and military failure," who is unlikely to dare test the effect of NATO’s Article 5.
It is worth noting that recently Stubb has been actively involved in efforts to resolve ceasefire issues in Ukraine.
Earlier, Stubb said that US President Donald Trump is beginning to show impatience regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, as the Finnish president noted, it is moving in the right direction.
