Finland’s Stubb: NATO drill sending message to Russia

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said NATO’s ongoing military exercise in the Nordics sends a message to Russia that the alliance has the ability to act if a member were attacked.

That’s according to Yle, Ukrinform reports.

The president spoke at a press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre after observing NATO’s Nordic Response drills on Thursday.

Stubb said that situation was mainly due to NATO’s Article 5, the alliance's collective defense clause. He noted that training for different scenarios should be carried out, adding that he did not think a Russian attack was likely.

As reported earlier the Nordic Response 2024 exercise that kicked off March 4 in the northern parts of Finland, Norway, and Sweden involves some 20,000 soldiers from 13 countries, including just over 4,000 from Finland. The drill marks Finland’s first collective defense exercise as a NATO member.