Alexander Stubb warned against subjecting Ukraine to “Finlandization,” called for more pressure on Russia’s leader to get a peace deal and said President Trump was running out of patience.
President Alexander Stubb of Finland has become a surprise player in President Trump’s pursuit of an agreement to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
He golfed with Mr. Trump in Palm Beach last month, using his borderline-pro skills to help the president win a tournament and his time on the course to share his views on Russia and Ukraine. He sat next to Mr. Trump at Pope Francis’ funeral in Vatican City this weekend, after the U.S. president met in St. Peter’s Basilica with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, someone Mr. Stubb speaks to regularly.
Perhaps more than any other country, Finland can empathize with the peril of Ukraine’s position in peace talks. In the 1940s, the Finns were forced to give up land to the Kremlin, agree to neutrality and accept limits on their military — the same demands Russia is making of Ukraine. Finland operated under those strictures for almost half a century.
Mr. Stubb sat with The New York Times in the city of Hameenlinna, Finland, on Sunday. Here are some key takeaways:
Ukraine Must Avoid ‘Finlandization’
Mr. Stubb rejected suggestions that Ukraine submit to what political scientists call “Finlandization” — a smaller country, despite retaining its independence and domestic political system, being forced to cede some of its autonomy to a more powerful neighbor. He emphasized how the arrangement eroded Helsinki’s sovereignty and held back the country for decades, as Finns wanted to be with the West.
“I would never bestow upon another state the predicament of a larger player determining some of the key elements of who you are as a country,” he said.
The Finnish president noted that nationhood consists of land, sovereignty and independence, and Finland lost control over two of the three, retaining only its independence. He wants Ukraine to have a better fate.