EU and NATO "unable to provide military assistance"

EU and NATO "unable to provide military assistance"

Helsinki -- The European Union and NATO are unable to provide military support to Ukrainian forces fighting against pro-Russian forces in the east of the country.

This is what Finland's Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb told the country's public radio Yle.

"This of course is not possible. We know that NATO provides military assistance only to its members, while the EU does not have the capacity to provide such assistance," he was quoted as saying.

"The EU signed an association agreement with Ukraine and it that is the 'soft power' used by the EU," Reuters reported Stubb as saying.

On Saturday, the Ukrainian foreign minister called on NATO and the European Union "to provide military help and come up with a new strategy toward Kiev to help end the four-month conflict."