ATHENS

US President Donald Trump could throw Finland “under the bus” too, warned the country’s former foreign minister.

Arguing that Trump’s remarks and approach to Ukraine show Finland cannot rely on NATO for its security, Erkki Tuomioja said: “It is rather obvious that Trump would not jeopardize any American interests for Finland's—or any other country's—sake,” public broadcaster YLE reported.

"We're seeing Ukraine being thrown under the bus. Yes, the Baltic countries and Finland can end up there, too," Tuomioja underlined.

I'm not necessarily saying we should leave NATO, but the defense they could offer is not sufficient, he added.

Against this backdrop, Tuomioja underlined that European and Nordic countries must improve their defense cooperation.

According to him, in the face of the new realities originated by the new US administration’s approach to NATO and European security, new and creative ideas are needed.

"All of NATO's resources are entirely dependent on the US. Europe really only offers complementary strength. European defense cooperation must be quickly strengthened now," Tuomioja said.

Similarly, on Thursday, Finnish European Commission Vice President Henna Virkkunen described the prevailing security situation as the weakest since World War II.

"We are in the most difficult situation since the Second World War. Ukraine has been the target of Russia's full-scale attack for three years, and we must be able to significantly increase support for the country. Ukraine must be able to push Russia out of its territory,” she told reporters in the capital Helsinki.

Leaders from several major European countries met in Paris on Monday at Macron's invitation to discuss transatlantic relations, the situation in Ukraine, potential peace talks, and European security.

US-European relations have grown tense after Trump initiated direct discussions with Putin about Ukraine peace talks, excluding European leaders.

At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, confirmed that Europeans would not be invited to planned US-Russia talks on Ukraine.

Adding to the tensions, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that European nations, rather than the US, should provide peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. He emphasized that any such deployment should be non-NATO and would not be covered under Article 5 of NATO’s collective defense clause, stressing that US troops would not be involved in any security guarantees.