“We have to be very careful and understand that Russia is trying to destabilize and scare Europe. And any time we overreact to a hybrid attack, they have actually won the battle in that particular way,” Stubb told POLITICO during an interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
“We also have to understand that it is not in the interest of Russia nor in the capacity of Russia to go full-scale” with military escalation, Stubb added. “So they will continue to intimidate and we just have to be, as I say, cool, calm and collected in this situation.”
Stubb lauded Germany’s recent decision to attribute responsibility to Russia for the attempted Leipzig drone attack: “That is exactly what you need to do. You need to point the finger and say, we know what you’re doing and these are the consequences.”
In contrast, however, Stubb pointed to the “overreaction” from some intelligence services which “basically say that, well, you’re next” for a Russian invasion.
“We don’t see the evidence of that,” he said, adding: “We think we have to be vigilant and awake. But, you know, we have the longest border in NATO with Russia, it’s half the border. In our intelligence we see that there is activity but no imminent military threat right now.”
Stubb also expressed tentative hopefulness concerning a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Tuesday.