Finnish President says in Vilnius US will not leave NATO

VILNIUS - Visiting Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in Vilnius that the US will not leave NATO.

According to him, remaining in the alliance is in the US’s own interest.

"The US is not going to leave the Alliance. The United States will continue to work in NATO. Why? Because it is in their own fundamental interest. So, let's stop the empty talk about it," Stubb told a Finnish-Lithuanian business forum on Friday.

The Finnish president emphasised that US military bases in Europe are essential for its power projection in the Middle East and other regions.

"America needs Europe. I will give just two examples. US bases in Europe, whether it be Ramstein or elsewhere, are a sine qua non for the United States to be able to project its military power globally, especially in the Middle East, Asia, or Africa. They would have no possibility of doing what they are doing now in the Middle East if not for the bases in Europe," Stubb said.

He also highlighted that the primary threat to the US is Russia's nuclear arsenal.

"And the mass of those nuclear weapons is concentrated on the Kola Peninsula and in Murmansk, 100 kilometres from the Finnish border. The United States is part of an alliance that, through Finland, Sweden, and Norway, ensures close access to these nuclear weapons. Those nuclear weapons, strategic or otherwise, are not aimed at Vilnius, they are not aimed at Helsinki, Stockholm, or Oslo. They are aimed at New York, Washington, Miami, and Los Angeles," Stubb said.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has emphasised the necessity of maintaining NATO solidarity during what he described as a critical period.

"NATO solidarity is probably the main goal we must achieve. For me personally, it is very important that we remain united despite all the problems, all the different opinions, and all the rhetorical statements used in the past that caused some tension within NATO. I think we have to sit down at the table and say: 'Now is a critical moment for NATO. We must survive, we must preserve this organisation'," Nauseda told a Finnish-Lithuanian business forum on Friday.

Nauseda said Lithuania is striving to be as reliable a partner as possible for both the United States and Germany.

"And that is exactly why we still maintain a very constructive dialogue with our American friends. Because we understand that in order to be considered a reliable partner, we must act like one ourselves. Whether we are talking about the conflict in the Middle East or other parts of the world - it is very important for us to send a signal that we are a reliable partner," he said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US has suspended the deployment of more than 4,000 troops to Poland as part of a planned rotation; some equipment and personnel were already on their way to Europe. This follows earlier Pentagon plans to withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany.