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The president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, is the person considered most responsible for bringing his country into the NATO alliance \u2014 and Sweden, too, which is awaiting ratification \u2014 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. President Biden has consulted him about Russia and its president, Vladimir V. Putin, whom Mr. Niinisto has met numerous times.<\/p>\n
In a long interview in his light-filled modernist residence in Helsinki, Mr. Niinisto warned European leaders and citizens not to become complacent over the risks of escalation in Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The war in Ukraine will last a long time, he said, and wars can take unexpected paths, even toward the use of nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
The invasion, Mr. Niinisto said, was \u201ca wake-up call\u201d for Europe and NATO.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it was ringing loudly in February 2022,\u201d he said. \u201cBut do you hear it anymore? That clearly? That might be a good question \u2014 whether all Europeans realize that this is a European issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Niinisto, 75, is nearing the end of his 12 years as the Finnish president. In the interview, he was philosophical, but troubled, too. Finland has much experience \u2014 and an 830-mile border \u2014 with its imperialist neighbor, Russia.<\/p>\n
Recalling Finland\u2019s numerous wars with Moscow, including the 1939 Winter War and World War II, when the Finns fought off the Soviets but had to cede some territory, Mr. Niinisto said European countries that let down their defenses after the collapse of the Soviet Union made a grave mistake.<\/p>\n
Here are a few highlights from the interview:<\/p>\n
Speaking about debris from what appeared to be a Russian drone landing recently in Romania, which is a member of NATO, Mr. Niinisto cautioned: \u201cWe\u2019re in a very sensitive situation. Even small things can change matters a great deal and unfortunately for the worse. That is the risk of such large-scale warfare.\u201d He added, \u201cThe risk that nuclear weapons could be used is tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
His warnings, he said, were partly a response to those who criticize the policies of Mr. Biden and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany as too cautious in supplying Ukraine with sophisticated, long-range missiles and drones that could easily hit Russian-occupied Crimea and Russia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a difference between those who have responsibility and those who don\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cAlso, in Finland, we hear voices that America should do that or that. And I just wanted to point out that if there\u2019s escalation to a big war, that\u2019s world war, so then the nuclear risk becomes clearly bigger.\u201d He urged everyone \u201cto understand the position of those who have responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He urged Europeans to heed Finland\u2019s example.<\/p>\n
Unlike Sweden, a close neighbor in all fields, including defense, Finland still has conscription for males, and also allows women to enlist. Those who finish conscription remain in the reserves, as they do in Israel, for decades, and take part in military training and exercises at least twice a year \u2014 now more often \u2014 in conjunction with other public services, such as the police and the fire brigades.<\/p>\n
And Finland, schooled in self-reliance, also maintains its large artillery forces, still makes its own shells and ammunition, and even bought advanced F-35 fighter jets before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
After the Cold War, Mr. Niinisto said, \u201cwe Europeans learned to live an always improving life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDecade after decade,\u201d he said, \u201cit strengthened the feeling that it\u2019s a bit old-fashioned even to talk about defense forces or defending because that\u2019s not possible in a modern world. Now there\u2019s a huge wake-up. Fortunately, in Finland, our position remained totally different.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In their meetings before the invasion in February 2022, Mr. Niinisto said, Mr. Putin was focused, aggressive and well informed, even obsessive, about Russian culture. He said he decided to test Mr. Putin by asking him about Mikhail Lermontov\u2019s poem on the death of Pushkin, Russia\u2019s greatest poet. Mr. Putin spoke for more than half an hour. \u201cHe knew everything about that \u2014 for him it\u2019s Russia, Russia overall,\u201d Mr. Niinisto said.<\/p>\n
Russia ruled Finland for more than a century, until, in the chaos of Lenin\u2019s takeover, Finland declared independence in 1917. The wars with Russia since then are seared \u201cin our backbone,\u201d Mr. Niinisto said. Russian history goes in waves, he said, citing \u201ca centuries-old Finnish saying that \u2018the Cossack takes anything that is loose,\u2019\u201d that is not tied down. (Finns used to use \u201cCossack\u201d as shorthand for \u201cRussians,\u201d he said.) But it is a reminder that free countries must keep their defenses up and their goods safely stored.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The two presidents spoke about Russian intentions in Ukraine before Mr. Niinisto met Mr. Putin in Moscow in October 2021, continuing their conversations at the Glasgow climate summit the next month and afterward, as Russian troops were building up on the border with Ukraine. They spoke again in January, and Mr. Biden asked Mr. Niinisto to urge Mr. Putin not to invade. Russia invaded the next month.<\/p>\n
After the invasion, Mr. Niinisto was among the first European leaders to meet Mr. Biden in the White House, on March 4, where he put forth the possibility of Finland joining NATO. After the Russian invasion, he said, \u201cit became very obvious that we had no other alternative than giving up our military nonalignment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Biden was supportive from the start, Mr. Niinisto said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Niinisto said he does not know how long the war will last, or how it will end, or \u201cwhat life will be like when we again have peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even when the conflict ends, Russia will remain. \u201cThere\u2019s also a big European interest to make sure that Russia is not returning back to warfare after peace in Ukraine\u201d without insisting that the Russians \u201chave to be blown out,\u201d he said carefully. But he emphasized that trust would be needed to ensure that \u201ca new war is not waiting behind the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is always life after war, he said, and there is nothing more valuable for people than peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout peace, you have nothing, so I\u2019m sure that ordinary Russians share these feelings,\u201d Mr. Niinisto said. \u201cIt\u2019s a basic human feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
There must be a way to maintain a relationship with Russia, he said. \u201cI don\u2019t mean any great friendship,\u201d Mr. Niinisto said, \u201cbut the capability to tolerate, even understand each other a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n