For Alexander Stubb, the American president needs to “come out a winner” from possible negotiations.
Alexander Stubb, à Helsinki, en janvier 2025 ( Magazine photo / VESA MOILANEN )
Traveling to the Davos forum on Wednesday January 22, the conservative Finnish president said he was “rather optimistic” about the outcome of possible peace negotiations on Ukraine initiated by American President Donald Trump, believing that the latter would come out of it “winner”.
“I'm actually quite optimistic, because Trump needs to come out on top, and I think he will.”
declared Alexander Stubb, asked about the outcome of possible negotiations that the new American president would launch, during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland).
“Probable” new sanctions, according to Trump
Donald Trump indicated that he was in discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and added that he would “very soon (speak)” with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to find a way out of the conflict triggered by the invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022.
The American president thus deemed new sanctions against Russia “likely” if Moscow does not negotiate an end to the war against Ukraine. “It seems likely,” Donald Trump said during a press conference at the White House on Tuesday, January 21, reiterating that “the war would never have happened if I had been president” at the time. He further indicated that the United States would “look into” continuing military aid to kyiv, which amounts to tens of billions of dollars since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “We let’s talk to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky,” he said. “We are going to talk very soon with (Russian) President Vladimir Putin, and we will see what happens.”
-“It’s a complicated matter and
I don't envy the Trump administration if they want to reach an agreement in a three to six month period.”
noted for his part Mr. Stubb, in reference to the ambition of the American president, who had even initially claimed to be able to resolve the conflict in 24 hours.
“No peace without Ukraine, and no peace without Europe”
The Finnish president considered it “important to convince Donald Trump and his administration, who will negotiate the agreement, but also China, which can influence Russia, that the three key principles remain independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity “from Ukraine. “This last point is more complicated, I admit, but I don't think we should give in on this either,” Mr Stubb continued.
“The starting point for us is: no peace without Ukraine, and no peace without Europe,” said the Finnish head of state, a convinced European and defender of an intransigent line in the face of in Moscow. We must also “not find ourselves in a situation where six months after the conclusion of an agreement, those who allowed such an agreement would find themselves accused of having sold Ukraine”, he warned. Finland, which shares nearly 1,300 km of border with Russia, joined NATO on April 4, 2024, largely due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ending several decades of neutrality.
