Finnish president urges West to lift restrictions on Ukraine's long-range strikes on Russia

Finnish President Alexander Stubb believes that Western powers, including the United States, should lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of Western-supplied weapons for long-range strikes on Russian territory.

Stubb urged allies in the global West, including the US, "to allow Ukraine to fight without one hand tied behind its back" and lift restrictions on long-range strikes.

"We need to continue to support Ukraine, starting with finance, starting with ammunition, starting with vehicles, and also with allowing Ukraine to use weapons as it pleases, as long as it’s in self-defence and within the framework of international rules," Stubb said in an interview with The New York Times.

The Finnish president emphasised that Russia is an imperial power that "has expansion in its DNA".

"So what we need to do is to convince Putin that there’s no point for him to continue this war, and I think Putin needs to lose both the war and the peace, because the only thing that he understands is power. The key is to allow Ukraine to fight this war without any kind of restrictions, and everything after that is secondary," Stubb said.

The Finnish president added that greater freedom of action for Ukraine would bring peace talks closer.

Earlier, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also said Ukraine's allies should stop dithering when it comes to helping Kyiv fight and authorise the use of the weapons they supplied to strike Russia.

The Times has reported that the US and the UK are preparing to authorise Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles for strikes on Russian territory, although the deal will remain private to preserve the element of surprise for Russia.