NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte (on the right) and Finnish President Alexander Stubb address the media after a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday, November 17, 2025. AP/Geert Vanden Wijngaert
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with the President of Finland Alexander Stubb at the Alliance’s headquarters in Belgium. They discussed increasing defense spending by NATO member countries and strengthening support for Ukraine.
During the joint press conference, they outlined the key areas of cooperation and the current steps in their engagement regarding Ukraine.
Strengthening Defense and Active Support for Ukraine
Mark Rutte noted that Finland is increasing defense spending to over 2.7% of GDP and, together with Sweden, is forming new advanced NATO ground units.
The country is also taking part in airspace patrols over Iceland and Romania, and has dispatched a counter-drone unit to support Denmark.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Finland has provided Ukraine with €3.8 billion in assistance, of which more than €2.8 billion is military. In addition, a three-year program for supplying materials from the Finnish defense industry has been launched and €100 million has been allocated to fund urgent needs of Ukraine under the PURL initiative
– Mark Rutte
President of Finland Alexander Stubb stressed that the priorities remain unchanged: support for Ukraine and strengthening NATO defense. He stressed that Russia continues to attack civilian infrastructure and shows no willingness to negotiate.
The financial needs of Ukraine in the coming years also need to be addressed urgently. It is evident that Russia will remain a long-term threat to the security and stability of Europe even after the war in Ukraine ends. NATO and Europe must continue to strengthen their defense to respond to these threats
– Alexander Stubb
The President of Finland noted that the country is fulfilling its obligations to NATO. «We will continue to contribute to the implementation of NATO’s deterrence and defense strategy in the North», the president said.
«We will continue to contribute to the implementation of NATO’s deterrence and defense strategy in the North»
– Alexander Stubb
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that he does not expect the war started by Russia against Ukraine to end by the end of 2025.