SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Friday offered a "brutally honest" assessment of Europe's capabilities in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine, stating bluntly that "we're not strong enough" to stand up to Moscow alone.

Visiting Australia, the leader of the pending North Atlantic Treaty Organization member said Vladimir Putin's invasion and occupation of neighboring Ukraine had exposed both European weaknesses and strategic blunders in dealing with Russia.

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

She added that Europe thought that buying energy from Russia to promote closer economic ties "would prevent a war," but that this approach had been "proven entirely wrong."

"They don't care about economic ties, they don't care about the sanctions. They don't care about any of that," Marin said.