By Fox News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-27 10:10:30 | Updated at 2026-09-27 11:43:55
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UNITED NATIONS — As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns that Russia could take its war beyond Ukraine, Finnish President Alexander Stubb is striking a markedly calmer tone — saying Finland is prepared for Moscow and crediting President Donald Trump with pushing harder for a negotiated end to the war.
"I think we're certainly in a better place than we were before President Trump started," Stubb told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. "He's doubled down in the past year and a half to try to find a solution for peace with negotiators such as Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and many others."
Stubb, who has been closely involved in the diplomatic effort, said he and Norway’s prime minister have worked largely "in the back office," relaying information among Ukraine, the United States and European governments.
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US President Donald Trump meets with Finnish President Alexander Stubb in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 9, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
"I think he's really working hard and hopefully we'll get a solution," Stubb said.
The interview came during an intense diplomatic week in New York focused heavily on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in New York during UNGA week as Washington continued its effort to revive negotiations with Moscow. Zelenskyy said peace remained Ukraine's priority and thanked Trump for sending the two envoys to Kyiv after they had also held talks in Moscow.
Zelenskyy was asked by Fox News Digital after the meeting about the possibility that Russia could invade or attack another European country in the near future.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president, left, and Alexander Stubb, Finland's president, right, during a news conference in Helsinki, Finland, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Roni Rekomaa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"That's why the risk of offensive by drones, missiles or land operation is very high against other countries who are bordering Russia or Belarus," Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian leader argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin, unable to achieve his military objectives in Ukraine, could seek to create instability elsewhere in Europe to pressure Western governments into reducing their support for Kyiv. He pointed to drone incursions and disruptions affecting several European countries, arguing that Moscow is already attempting to intimidate European societies and test their response.
Asked by Fox News Digital what European countries should do in response to the growing threat, Zelenskyy offered a direct answer.
"Respond. Always respond. It's not about the war. If you don't respond, Russians, they will go further," he said.
But Stubb struck a notably calmer tone when asked about Zelenskyy’s warnings that Russia could eventually attack other European countries, including Finland, which shares the longest border with Russia.
"As commander-in-chief in Finland, I sit on all the relevant information and I just don't see a factual basis for it," Stubb said.
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Commander of the Finnish Army Lieutenant General Pasi Valimaki addresses Finnish conscript soldiers after a military exercise at Pori Brigade in Niinisalo, Finland, Dec. 9, 2025. (Anne Kauranen/Reuters)
That does not mean, he stressed, that Moscow has stopped targeting Europe.
Stubb distinguished between the "kinetic" war Russia is fighting in Ukraine and what he described as a broader "hybrid" campaign in Europe, pointing to cyberattacks, sabotage and damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.
"We have to see this as a campaign," he said. "Russia tries to intimidate Europe, scare us and get into our heads."
His prescription was characteristically Finnish: "cool, calm and collected, take a sauna and a nice bath and deal with it."
Stubb said Finland, a country with a population of 5.6 million, can afford that attitude precisely because it has spent decades preparing for a potential threat from its eastern neighbor.
"We are calm because we are prepared," he said.
The Niirala border crossing point is seen along Finland's eastern border with Russia in Oct. 2022 after the Finnish government announced tightening of several border crossings amid concerns over migrant crossings. (Brooke Curto/Fox News Digital) (Brooke Curto/Fox News Digital)
He pointed to Finland’s mandatory military service, reserve force, artillery, long-range capabilities and extensive network of civilian shelters. The Finnish Defence Forces puts Finland’s wartime military strength at 280,000 personnel, with additional reservists available if needed.
That deterrent received another boost just days before Stubb traveled to New York. Finland is acquiring 64 F-35A fighter jets to replace its F/A-18 Hornet fleet under a procurement decision announced by the Finnish government.
The first two F-35s intended for operations inside Finland arrived at the Lapland Air Wing in Rovaniemi on Sept. 18, according to a Finnish Defence Forces press release.
"We have obligatory military service. I did mine, my son did his. We have women who do it voluntarily. We have over 60 F-18s. We just bought 64 F-35s, the two first of which arrived. We have long-range missiles, air, land and sea. We have the capability to mobilize 280,000 troops within days in a conflictual situation. On top of that, we have land mines. And we have the biggest artillery in Europe together with Poland… On top of that, we have civilian shelters for over 4.4 million people out of 5.6."
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Security cameras overlook the Niirala Border Crossing Station along Finland's eastern border with Russia in Nov. 2023 after Finland closed the checkpoint amid heightened border security concerns. (Brooke Curto/Fox News Digital)
"We don't have them because we're worried about Sweden," Stubb joked of Finland’s military capabilities. "We have them because we see a security threat coming from Russia."
He said that level of preparedness, combined with Finland’s NATO membership, makes a direct Russian attack unlikely. Finland became NATO's 31st member on April 4, 2023, after abandoning its longstanding military non-alignment following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"We feel that we're very prepared, and that gives us a strong enough … deterrent that we don't believe that Russia is going to test a country like Finland," Stubb said. "And of course the icing on the cake is that we are now security providers in the Alliance NATO."
Stubb also used his Sept. 22 address to the U.N. General Assembly to advocate for continued support for Kyiv, calling the "Coalition of the Willing" supporting Ukraine "particularly close to my heart." He said the coalition was working toward a "just and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the U.N. Charter."
Stubb made additional news on Ukraine during UNGA week, when he urged SpaceX owner Elon Musk to extend Starlink coverage so Ukrainian forces could use the satellite network in areas containing Russian ballistic missile launchers, including inside Russia. He argued that doing so could help Ukraine target launchers firing missiles at Ukrainian cities.
Yet Ukraine was only one piece of what Stubb described as an increasingly interconnected global security crisis.
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Finland's President Alexander Stubb addresses the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 22, 2026. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Asked about Trump’s call at the U.N. for countries to support efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Stubb was unequivocal.
"I agree, Iran should not obtain nuclear weapons," he told Fox News Digital, adding that Tehran should not use proxies or be able to produce missiles.
Stubb also argued that the conflicts involving Russia and Iran can no longer be viewed in isolation, alleging that Moscow is providing intelligence to Tehran that Iran has used against U.S. military bases in the Gulf, while Iranian weapons have been supplied to Russia for use against Ukraine.
"We're going in this merry-go-round where every bit of the conflict is linked to another," Stubb said. "The sooner we can end both, the better."
Iran conducts joint military exercises with Russia in the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. deployed surveillance drones. (Iranian Army/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Trump used his Sept. 22 U.N. General Assembly address to call for Iran's economic isolation and reiterate that Tehran should not obtain a nuclear weapon, while warning of further US military action if a peace agreement is not reached, according to Reuters.
For Stubb, the proliferation of conflicts — from Ukraine and Iran to Gaza, Yemen and Sudan — is testing a diplomatic system already struggling to keep pace.
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"It's not a zero-sum game," he said. "We have to deal with a multiplicity of conflicts right now, unfortunately."
And for Trump, he added, that means "working around the clock."
Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital with more than 15 years of experience covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability. She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries, documenting conflicts, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the human stories behind major world events.
Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor's degree in communication and a master's degree in political science.
