Europe may need Ukraine more than vice versa: Finnish president

With Russia posing a threat to all of Europe, the continent may need Ukraine more than Ukraine needs Europe, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Tuesday, noting Kyiv's large and modern military.

"Instead of us thinking that Ukraine needs Europe, perhaps we should think that we in Europe need Ukraine more," Stubb told reporters at a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis.

"It is the largest, most efficient, and most modern military in Europe."

Europe has ramped up its defensive capabilities in the face of Russia's four-year old invasion of Ukraine and Moscow's "hybrid" attacks on European countries, including drone incidents, alleged sabotage and misinformation.

Both Stubb and Karis expressed support for Kyiv's desire to join both the European Union and NATO.

"We need to seriously start to think how much Europe actually needs Ukraine, whether it's EU membership or, as a matter of fact, NATO membership," Stubb said.

European leaders broadly back Ukraine's EU membership aspirations but there is little appetite to fast-track Kyiv to full membership, despite urgent appeals from President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Kyiv officially obtained EU candidate country status in December 2023.

As for NATO, US President Donald Trump has opposed Ukraine's accession to the Atlantic Alliance.

Stubb meanwhile argued that the tide was turning in Ukraine's favour in the war with Russia.

"If you look at the past four months, Ukraine is actually doing much better than Russia," he said.

"We have seen the figures of both dead and wounded soldiers increase to 30,000 to 35,000 per month on the Russian side at a hit ratio of one Ukrainian to five Russians," Stubb added.

"On top of that, Ukraine now has the capability to launch more missiles and drones into Russia than vice versa. The pace at which Russia is advancing is actually minimal, at a cost of roughly 250 dead per square kilometre," he said.