President of Finland Alexander Stubb made a proposal for the peace process. He noted that the first stage envisages active pressure on Russia through sanctions and frozen assets until a ceasefire is reached.
He said this during the “Support Ukraine” summit, reports UNN.
Stubb clarified that the first phase could last until Easter or longer, until a ceasefire is reached.
The second stage includes an immediate ceasefire, in which it is important to monitor the demarcation line and ensure control over the processes in eastern Ukraine. However, he emphasized that within the framework of these negotiations, there are issues that are not subject to discussion with Russia, including Ukraine's membership in the EU, who has the right to join NATO, the protection of Ukraine's borders, and European security issues.
Stubb emphasized that in these talks it is important to make it clear that some aspects, such as Ukraine's membership in the EU or NATO, should be resolved without Russian involvement.
In Finland, we really understand what you are going through. We have 1,340 kilometers of border with Russia. In February 1949, Russia attacked us without provocation. And we fought two existential wars. The first one lasted 105 days, the second war of deterrence lasted 1100 days, and you are also going through it now. For me, this war is mostly about survival, the existence of the nation of Ukraine. And the nation, the nationality is based on a triangle. And this triangle is something that we believe should be respected since the Second World War. And the parts of the triangle are independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity
He added that the Second World War was over, and Finland had to accept peace with Stalin.
And we will have to accept peace with Putin. But the peace we will have to accept must be based on independence. We were the only country that was able to maintain true independence, but we lost our sovereignty then. We could not join the EU right away, only after the collapse of the Soviet Union could we, and we lost 10% of our territory
Stubb noted that there may have been a misunderstanding about what is happening in Ukraine. He emphasized that Russia obviously started this war, but the seizure of territories began in 2008 with the attack on Georgia and then in 2014 with the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Stubb added that the 3rd anniversary of the full-scale invasion is being commemorated, but this war has been going on for 11 years, since 2014. He also noted that many people do not realize that this war is not only about Ukraine, but also about Europe and the United States. Stubb warned that for those who doubt this, Putin cannot be trusted and no deals should be made with him.
He also said that the only way for Ukraine to win the war is to continue to provide support, as it has been doing since the beginning. If Russia gets what it wants now, it will not stop at Ukraine.