---
title: "Finnish President urges caution in Ukraine war"
url: https://radiomoldova.md/p/21066/finnish-president-urges-caution-in-ukraine-war
published: 2023-09-18T06:01:27Z
language: en
author: "Viorica Rusica"
section: "International"
source: radiomoldova.md
---

# Finnish President urges caution in Ukraine war

> Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has warned of the high risk of nuclear war in Ukraine, urging Europe to be cautious about the dangers of a wider conflict.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has warned of the high risk of nuclear war in Ukraine, urging Europe to be cautious about the dangers of a wider conflict.

![](https://storage.radiomoldova.md/images/50a5a8b4-067e-4c24-b9aa-b442774081fd.jpg)

In an interview with The New York Times, Niinisto said that the war in Ukraine is likely to be a long one, and that the Russian invasion in February 2022 was a "wake-up call" for Europe and NATO that is now being forgotten.

*"We are in a very sensitive situation,"* Niinisto said. *"Even small things can change the situation a lot, and unfortunately for the worse. That is the risk of a war on such a large scale. The risk of using nuclear weapons is huge."*

Niinisto also defended the cautious approach of countries such as the United States and Germany in supplying weapons to Ukraine, particularly for attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea.

*"There is a difference between those who are responsible and those who are not... And I would just like to emphasise: if there is an escalation to a major war, it will be a world war, and then the nuclear risk clearly becomes greater,"* Niinisto said.

Finland became a formal member of NATO on April 4, 2023. The country, which shares a 1,340-kilometre eastern border with Russia, applied to join the North Atlantic Alliance in May 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.

Translation by **Iurie Tataru**