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Alexander Stubb: “He wanted to take over Ukraine. He made Ukraine European.”

Featuring: Alexander Stubb, National Coalition | President of Finland | International

Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine

Published January 19, 2026 | Video Starts at 25:18

And if I look at it from a Russian perspective, and if the Russians were honest to themselves, none of their strategic goals have succeeded. What did Putin want? He wanted to take over Ukraine. He made Ukraine European. He wanted to split NATO. He actually got two additional members, Sweden and Finland. He wanted to split the transatlantic partnership. (25:18–25:23)

CLAIM

Asserts Putin's actions have pushed Ukraine towards Europe.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Alexander Stubb

“We have one of the largest militaries in Europe together with Turkey, Poland and Ukraine.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 09:14-09:22
“We can mobilize very quickly, 280,000 soldiers for Arctic conditions.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 09:38-09:44
“We have 62 F18s. We just bought 64 F35 which the first one was rolled out in Texas in December.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 09:44-09:53
“We have the biggest artillery in Europe together with Poland.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 09:56-10:00
“We provided the funding for Ukraine by basically giving 90 billion euros for the next two years.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 19:51-20:00
“We've had over 30 wars or skirmishes with Russia.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 23:08-23:14
“We're looking at an economy which has to pay...over $100,000 for a dead soldier to the families.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 26:03-26:15
“For a country like Finland, which is relatively small, an attachment to the United States has always been important.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 02:30-02:38
“Information is power. So if you have information that you can share, I'll take an example from the most acute issue for us, which is the war…”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 04:02-04:12
“The good scenario is that we're able to de-escalate, find an off-ramp, and then strengthen Arctic security within the NATO context.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 05:48-05:57
“A bad scenario is something which causes a rupture between Greenland and Denmark, who've obviously had a historic relationship.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 05:57-06:07
“The ugly scenario, which no one believes is, is a military takeover and we've heard repeatedly also from the US Administration that that's…”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 06:12-06:25
“We need to de-escalate, we need to find an off-ramp, we need to explain, we need to have a process.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 06:30-06:42
“Finland is one of the countries in the Arctic council.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 08:53-09:03
“We want a stronger Arctic security component for NATO.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 10:29-10:36
“What we need is basically stronger NATO bases in Greenland if the Greenlanders and when the Greenlanders want that.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 11:26-11:34
“Who would have expected NATO to increase defense expenditure to 5% when we celebrated the 75th anniversary of NATO in Washington two years…”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 11:41-11:53
“Putin has not achieved his strategic goals. He was supposed to do it in three days.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 16:44-16:50
“His advancement now 20% of Ukrainian territory in the past 1,000 days, roughly 1% of territory.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 16:52-17:00
“Finland just did in its 31st package last week to Ukraine.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 17:15-17:20
“The capacity of Ukraine to conduct this war by itself is much better than it was for four years ago.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 19:37-19:45
“Finland has always survived as Russia's neighbor.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 22:44-22:50
“We were part of Russia from 1809 to 1919 17.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 22:49-22:53
“Our relationships have been businesslike ever Since World War II.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 23:19-23:26
“We don't have a political relationship with Russia [currently].”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 23:36-23:39
“None of [Russia's] strategic goals have succeeded.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 25:13-25:17
“He wanted to split NATO. He actually got two additional members, Sweden and Finland.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 25:22-25:30
“He wanted to split the transatlantic partnership...hasn't happened.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 25:29-25:38
“He wanted to split Europe. It's more united than ever.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 25:37-25:41
“We're looking at an economy which is zero growth this year.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 25:56-26:00
“We're looking at an economy which doesn't have any more reserves.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 26:00-26:04
“In public opinion you don't [see fragmentation], but in oligarchs you only sort of second guess.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 26:34-26:40
“The world order is changing. A lot of the multilateral institutions are being challenged.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 27:33-27:40
“My answer...is to strengthen the multilateral institutions, especially the UN.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 27:39-27:50
“Double the membership of the UN Security Council, bring in at least one country from Latin America, 2 from Africa, 2 from Asia.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 28:01-28:14
“We feel that there should be a strong UN mandate in the Gaza case.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 28:39-28:44
“I think even if globalization is on retraction, what you're going to see is regional organizations increasing in strength.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 29:56-30:05
“The European Union, which will become increasingly flexible, will actually have a competitive advantage to the rest of the world.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 30:04-30:25
“NATO, it might obviously change its composure, but no international organization is constant.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 30:17-30:25
“The original task of NATO from 1949 to the end of the Cold War was to work as a deterrent to the Soviet Union.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 30:25-30:34
“After Russia attacked Ukraine, [NATO] was rejuvenated again. So we're in NATO 3.0.”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 30:41-30:49
“I still believe in American engagement and commitment in [NATO].”
Finnish president on Trump, Greenland and the war in Ukraine | Uploaded January 19, 2026 | 31:01-31:05