The head of the Finnish Foreign Ministry speaks about the current trajectory of the war in Ukraine.
In democracies, the political climate can always change, and while there is growing concern in the West about the pace of the Ukrainian counter-offensive during the war with the Russian Federation and the political and economic ability of allies to support Kiev, the core values and future that all of Ukraine's partners strive for mean that assistance is justified. This is not charity, but upholding the European way of life, in this case, Western values and, of course, the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and these are the values that are shared by the democratic world.
She stated this in an interview with The Washington Post Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen.
As the diplomat said, it is up to Ukrainians to decide “how much more they can do and will do.”
“They defend, first of all, their country, their sovereignty. Of course, at the same time they defend us – the entire world order based on rules,” she said.
At the same time, Valtonen emphasized that the West will never was not the only one.
“And let's just leave it like this. It is very important that we understand that Ukrainians are heroically fighting for all of us and therefore we must help them (…) I think that many, “Perhaps they have not yet realized that this is not just Putin's war. It seems that the Russian machine, so to speak, has been preparing for this for a very long time,” said Elina Valtonen.
In particular, the minister mentioned the Russian aggression against Georgia in 2008, as well as the occupation of Crimea in 2014.
“Of course, Putin was in power during this time, but for more than two decades he built the infrastructure around it. And it could take two decades for someone (in Russia – Ed.) told him that this is not normal,” said Elina Valtonen.
At the same time, Elina Valtonen also answered whether Russia can become peaceful after leaving Putin.
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