Calls for peace talks and a ceasefire in Ukraine are premature, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Tuesday ahead of a heads of state and government meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in Tallinn.
“I welcome those discussions, but let’s focus on the essential. Ukraine needs to win this war first,” Stubb said.
The JEF is a Northern European military partnership led by the United Kingdom. It draws in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. All are NATO members.
“Before we can start talking about peace or a ceasefire, we need to continue to support Ukraine, and the support needs to be very practical. It basically means arms and ammunition, so that Ukraine can win this war on the battlefield,” Stubb said.
Stubb stressed three principles for Ukraine: independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. Ukraine had to start any talks from a position of strength, he said.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda also backed strong support for Ukraine. He noted that Russia now felt itself to be stronger that Ukraine and said it would “extremely difficult” to bring the Kremlin to the negotiation table.
“Hopefully, with our dedication and our commitment, it is possible to change the momentum on the battlefield to the better direction. And then of course we’ll start to talk about possible solutions,” Nausėda said.
The Baltic States and the Nordic countries have been among the staunchest backers of Ukraine in warding off the full-scale Russian invasion that began in February 2022.
Support for Ukraine is a central focus of the JEF meeting in the Estonian capital.
