The Finnish president is urging President Trump to impose a deadline on Vladimir Putin to agree to the April 20 ceasefire in Ukraine.
Speaking to Fox News in London after a weekend visit with Trump in Florida, Alexander Stubb praised Trump’s negotiation efforts, saying that he is “probably the only person in the world who can mediate peace.”
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However, he insisted that the ceasefire negotiation process should not be open-ended.
“We need a ceasefire and a ceasefire date,” Stubb said. “And that date should be April 20th.”
Finland President Alexander Stubb is urging President Trump to promote his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire by April 20th. (Getty Images)
April 20th marks the three months since Trump’s inauguration and is also an orthodox Easter.
“President Putin – the only person who doesn’t accept a ceasefire, the Americans want it, so Europeans want it, if the Ukrainians want it, then if he can’t obligate a ceasefire, we should go to the huge set of sanctions coming from the US and Europe,” Stubb said.
Trump said about the “psychological deadline” that Russia agrees to a ceasefire, but refused to name the date.
Trump threatens sanctions against Russia and demands peace after a huge hit in Ukraine
Stubb said Putin was “respectful and in many ways terrifying, Donald Trump.”
Finland – a Russian neighbour with a shared border running over 800 miles – disrupts decades of neutrality two years ago when he joined NATO, which was surprised by the war in Ukraine.
Stubb believes that Ukraine should also be allowed to participate in military alliances “in the long term” and “in the long term.” This is a position that goes against the Trump administration.
Stubb sat in an interview with Fox News after meeting President Trump at Mar-A-Lago. (Alex Hogan/Fox News)
After speaking and golf with Trump in Florida, Finnish leaders said European leaders were noting America’s complaints that Europe doesn’t spend enough money on defense and instead relies on the United States.
“Europe needs to take more responsibility for its own security, more responsibility for its own defense,” Stubb said. “I think we’re doing exactly that.”
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He described US-Europe relations as “in transition,” but “we are allies.
“Just because there is an ideological difference between Europeans and Americans doesn’t mean we’re going to cut off or divorce.”
