By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV (Reuters) - Membership in NATO is the only credible long-term security guarantee Ukraine can receive against future Russian aggression, Finland's top diplomat said on Wednesday.
Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan. 20 has sparked hope of a diplomatic resolution to end Moscow's invasion but also fears in Kyiv that a quick peace could come at a high price.
Ukrainian officials including President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have called for strong security guarantees from partners that would prevent Russia from rearming for a new attack.
"I think in the long term the only credible security guarantee is Article 5 of the Washington Treaty - so NATO membership essentially," Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told Reuters in Kyiv, referring to the alliance's collective defence clause.
"And we are supporting Ukraine's NATO membership further down the line and hopefully not in (the) too-distant future."
Ukraine's leaders have aggressively pushed for an invitation to join the 32-member alliance but have met resistance from key members as the war lurches toward its three-year mark and Ukrainian troops struggle to beat back Russian advances.
Trump, who has criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine, said on Tuesday he sympathizes with Russia's position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO. His aides and allies see Ukrainian membership as an unnecessary provocation toward Moscow.
He also blamed outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden for allegedly changing the U.S. position on NATO membership for Ukraine.
Valtonen, who was in Kyiv days after Finland assumed the chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said a Trump administration would not necessarily spell the end for Ukraine's NATO ambitions.
"Three years ago nobody thought that Finland would be joining NATO, or Sweden for that matter," she said. "So here we are, you never know."
Finland, which shares a 830-mile (1,336 km) border with Russia, joined the alliance in 2023 after the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour. Sweden joined earlier this year.
'SAME PAGE'
Trump, who has long been critical of NATO, also called on Tuesday for European members to boost spending on alliance defense from 2% of their gross domestic product to 5%.
Valtonen, who described Finland as "very much carrying its own weight so far", said such rhetoric could help spur European efforts to strengthen collective defence.
"We are very much on the same page with Trump on that, because I think we should do more, we can do more," she said.
"Certainly Europe has improved massively over the course of the past years, and will continue doing so."