Trump is the only one who can make Putin sit down at the negotiating table - President of Finland
Kyiv • UNN
Finnish President Alexander Stubb believes that Donald Trump is the only one who can make Putin sit down at the negotiating table regarding Ukraine. Stubb emphasized that Finland will never recognize Crimea as Russian and seeks Ukraine's membership in the EU and NATO.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb told the BBC that US President Donald Trump is "the only one who can force" Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to sit down at the negotiating table regarding the war in Ukraine, writes UNN.
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Stubb also stated that Finland will never recognize occupied Crimea as part of Russia, and that he wants to ensure that Ukraine becomes a member of the EU and, he hopes, a member of NATO after the war ends.
The interview with Stubb was recorded ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump at the White House on Friday, where he told the US president: "I think we can end this war with your help." Meanwhile, Trump stated that Putin had agreed to meet him face-to-face in Hungary.
Stubb said Trump once asked him – during a game of golf – if he could trust Putin; and Stubb's answer was negative.
"We need not so much the carrot to persuade Russia to sit down at the negotiating table, but rather the stick that will lead to it. So Russia needs to be forced to sit down at the negotiating table for peace, and that is the kind of deal President Trump is trying to make," Stubb said.
He said that Trump "gave a carrot to President Putin, and the carrot was in Alaska, and, of course, now, if you look at the wording he has been putting forward lately, there has been more of a stick."
Stubb expressed optimism about Trump's capabilities, stating that he believes peace talks have likely progressed more in the last eight months of Trump's second term than in the previous three years.
Stubb said that Finland will never recognize Crimea, Donetsk, or Luhansk regions as Russian.
He said that "the only ones who can decide on the land issue are the Ukrainians themselves."
"I want to make sure that Ukraine, when this war ends, retains its independence, retains its sovereignty – in other words, becomes an EU member state and, hopefully, a NATO member – and also retains its territorial integrity. That is what we are all fighting for now," Stubb said.
In August, Trump stated that "Ukraine's entry into NATO" as part of a peace agreement would not be considered.
The US President had previously expressed the idea of a possible "territorial exchange" in a future peace agreement, but then in September stated that Kyiv could "regain all of Ukraine in its original form."
When asked why Trump had apparently changed his position, Stubb replied that it was because Russia was not making progress – having seized only 1% of Ukraine's territory in the last 1000 days. Ukraine has also been able to resist, he said.
Trump is "the only one who can force" Putin to the negotiating table, the Finnish president told the BBC.
Stubb said that Russia's economy – smaller than Italy's – is suffering, the country's reserves are depleted, growth is "almost close to zero," and inflation has risen to 10-20%.
Stubb said that economic threats should be used to bring Russia to the negotiating table, and, most importantly, to provide Ukraine with frozen Russian assets worth 200 billion euros as a loan that will remain there if Russia does not pay compensation after peace talks.
He would also like to stop Russian oil and gas exports to Europe, which have decreased by 80%. Sanctions could be imposed against countries that buy Russian oil and gas, he said, in addition to the 19th European package of sanctions targeting Russia.
Stubb said that "all of Putin's strategic games have been a complete failure." Russia has not succeeded in its attempts to seize Ukraine, divide Europe, and split NATO, instead adding two new members to the alliance – Finland and Sweden.
He said that a European "coalition of the willing" is ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, providing key assistance in the air, at sea, and in intelligence.
But they need support from the US, particularly in air defense, intelligence, and operations, he said.
Stubb said he hopes to see some results from a two-stage peace process: the first stage being a ceasefire to stop the killings, and the second being an extended peace process – "in the coming days and weeks."
"We will continue to work on this. The main thing is to engage, try to find solutions, and be pragmatic. In foreign policy, you always have to deal with the world as it is, not as you would like it to be, but let's achieve peace," Stubb pointed out.