US Needs NATO to Counter Russian Nukes, Finland’s Stubb Says

Alexander Stubb, Finland’s president, right, Gitanas Nauseda, Lithuania’s president, and Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia’s president, left, during the Baltic Sea NATO allies summit at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.Photographer: Roni Rekomaa/Bloomberg

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May 15, 2026 at 10:48 AM UTC

The US has too much at stake in Europe to exit the NATO defense alliance and its own vested interests will dictate a continued presence on the continent, according to Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

Through military bases in Europe and with the Nordic countries all part of the bloc, the US gains “proximity” to address its number one threat: Russian nuclear weapons, Stubb said at the Lithuania-Finland Business Forum in Vilnius on Friday.