Finnish PM Sanna Marin says Europe isn't strong enough, would be in trouble without the US

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has shown that Europe is too reliant on the United States for its own security, Finland's Prime MinisterSannaMarinsaid on Friday. Marin, who is in Australia, said that Europe's defences need to be strengthened. Notably, Finland is awaiting membership to NATO.

"I must be brutally honest with you, Europe isn't strong enough right now," she said while addressing the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney on Friday. "We would be in trouble without the United States."

She added that she had spoken with many USpoliticians who had said they think Europe should be stronger.

"The United States has given a lot of weapons, a lot of financial aid, a lot of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Europe isn't strong enough yet,"Marinsaid.

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U.S. is the biggest arms supplier to Ukraine and has been providing Kyiv with major military aid in its ongoing war against Russia. A research suggests that Washington has till date committed $18.6 billion to Ukraine ever since the start of the war. European Union comes in second, followed by the UK, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

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Marin said that European countries' own stocks are now depleting and the countries need to look for ways to bolster European defences.

Europe must ensure that it is "building those capabilities when it comes to European defence, European defence industry, and making sure that we could cope in different kinds of situations,"she added.

As per estimates, the US spent a little over 3.7 per cent of its GDP on defence in 2020. The average stood at 1.77 per cent for NATO's European members. Notably, Donald Trump had been critical of European countries that are a part of NATO for not spending enough on defence.

Marin also called outsome European countries for trying to build closer ties with Russia in the recent decades.

"For a long time, Europe was building a strategy for Russia... to buy energy from Russia and to closen those economic ties, and we thought that this would prevent the war," she said. But it has "proven entirely wrong".

Marin further said that European countries should have been more alert to the warnings from Poland and the Baltics, who had said that Russia does not "care about their economic ties, they don't care about the sanctions, they don't care about any of that" when it comes to invading Ukraine.

(With inputs from agencies)

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