HALVALA: A ceasefire in Ukraine is unlikely before the spring and European allies need to keep up support despite a corruption scandal which has engulfed Kyiv, President Alexander Stubb of Finland told The Associated Press.
Europe, meanwhile will require ‘’sisu’’ – a Finnish word meaning endurance, resilience and grit — to get through the winter months, he said, as Russia continues its hybrid attacks and information war across the continent.
Stubb also needs that quality as one of the key European interlocutors between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. As the leader of one of Europe’s smaller countries, but one that shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, he is well aware of what’s at stake.
In the 1940s, after two wars with Russia, Finland lost about 10 percent of its territory to Moscow and agreed to become militarily neutral, a stance only reversed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, when the Finns joined NATO. Stubb leverages his good relationship with Trump — the two men have played golf together and speak regularly — to argue the case for Ukraine.
“I can explain to President Trump what Finland went through or how I see the situation on the battlefield, or how do you deal with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin? And then, you know, if he accepts one out of 10 ideas, that’s good,” he said.
