Oct 28, 2026
Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated that Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine would take years to achieve its objectives at the current pace, addressing the UN Security Council on September 23.
Stubb argued that drone warfare has effectively frozen much of the frontline.
Speaking on behalf of the five Nordic countries, Stubb stated that Russian forces had captured roughly 900 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory this year, while Ukraine had retaken around 800 square kilometers.
“So the line of contact is basically not moving,” Stubb stated.
At that pace, he warned, Russia would need years to seize the rest of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Stubb also stated that roughly 25,000 soldiers are being killed each month as both sides fight across a frontline that has shifted only marginally.
He compared the monthly losses with the Soviet war in Afghanistan, noting that the USSR lost roughly 18,000 troops over the entire decade-long conflict.
“This, in my mind, is a waste of life,” Stubb stated. “So the continuation of this war is a lose-lose.”
The Finnish president attributed much of the battlefield stalemate to drones, unmanned systems, and near-constant surveillance.
“We haven’t seen anything like this previously,” Stubb noted.
He described stretches of the frontline as roughly 20-kilometer-wide “death zones,” where exposed troops and vehicles face an extremely high likelihood of being detected and attacked.
“We’re seeing unmanned vehicles, we’re seeing death zones of roughly 20 kilometers to which you cannot enter, because with a 95 percent certainty, you’re going to be wiped out,” Stubb stated.
He argued that this environment helps explain why neither side has been able to achieve a decisive breakthrough despite heavy losses.
Stubb also accused Russia of systematically targeting Ukrainian civilians, civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian operations in an attempt to intimidate the population and weaken resistance.
“The aim is to instill fear and wear down Ukraine,” he stated.
The Finnish president called for an unconditional ceasefire, or at minimum limited arrangements covering areas such as energy infrastructure and grain exports, before negotiations on security, territory, justice, and a permanent settlement.
“There has to become a time when the killing stops,” Stubb stated.
Hours after the UN Security Council meeting, Stubb and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a new defense agreement focused on drones, technology transfers, expertise, and joint industrial projects.
“This is not simply a contract or an agreement on the sale and purchase of drones,” Zelenskyy stated. “This is about security—our shared security and joint production.”
Finland has increasingly framed its defense relationship with Ukraine as a two-way exchange, with Helsinki seeking to draw on Ukrainian battlefield experience as it develops its own military capabilities.
“That is exactly why we began saying that this is not a one-way street where we simply provide something to you,” Stubb stated. “On the contrary, it is a two-way process in which we learn from you.”
“By learning from Ukraine’s experience, we are strengthening our own capabilities,” he added.
Zelenskyy previously reported that Ukraine carried out three major offensive operations in 2026, including Operation Vivaldi in the Donetsk region and Operation VELES near Kupiansk, where Ukrainian troops traveled more than 15 kilometers underground before emerging behind Russian positions.
The more, the merrier. Kill ’em all.