NATO membership is the only credible long-term guarantee Ukraine can secure to defend against future Russian aggression, Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Reuters on Jan. 8.
While Donald Trump's upcoming return to the White House on January 20 has sparked hope for a diplomatic resolution to Moscow's invasion, it has also raised concerns in Kyiv about a potential peace deal coming with steep concessions. President Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized the need for robust security assurances from allies to prevent Russia from regrouping for another attack.
"In the long term, the only credible security guarantee is Article 5 of the Washington Treaty—so NATO membership essentially," Valtonen said in an interview with Reuters during her visit to Kyiv, referencing the alliance's collective defense clause. "And we are supporting Ukraine's NATO membership further down the line and hopefully not in (the) too-distant future."
Ukraine has strongly advocated for an invitation to join NATO, but resistance from key member states persists as the all-out war nears its three-year mark, with Ukrainian forces continuing to face challenges in pushing back Russian offensives.
Trump, who has expressed skepticism about U.S. aid to Ukraine, said on Jan. 7 that he sympathizes with Russia's stance against Ukraine joining NATO. His aides and allies view Ukraine’s NATO membership as a potential provocation toward Moscow. He also accused outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden of altering the U.S. position on Ukraine’s NATO prospects.
Despite these developments, Valtonen suggested that a Trump administration would not necessarily derail Ukraine's NATO aspirations. "Three years ago nobody thought that Finland would be joining NATO, or Sweden for that matter," she remarked. "So here we are, you never know."
Finland, which shares an 830-mile (1,336 km) border with Russia, joined NATO in 2023 following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Sweden became a member in early 2024.
On the topic of defense spending, Trump also called for European NATO members to increase their defense budgets from 2% of GDP to 5%. Valtonen noted that Finland has been proactive in meeting its defense commitments and welcomed Trump’s push for greater European contributions.
"We are very much on the same page with Trump on that, because I think we should do more, we can do more," she said. "Certainly Europe has improved massively over the course of the past years, and will continue doing so."
Kateryna Hodunova
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