Finnish President Alexander Stubb says Finland will never recognize the occupied Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts as part of Russia, BBC reports. He stresses that the only parties that can decide the fate of these territories are the Ukrainians themselves.
Russia violated the international order in 2014 by annexing Crimea. This order, established after World War II, was based on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. Recognizing the annexation would create a risk for other countries, where ruling regimes might already plan or be tempted to use force to alter borders.
Ukraine must join the EU and NATO
Stubb says he aims to secure full EU and NATO membership for Ukraine after the war.
"I want to make sure that Ukraine, when this war is over, retains its independence, retains its sovereignty - in other words becomes an EU member state and hopefully a NATO member - and also maintains its territorial integrity. That is what we are all fighting for right now," Stubb claims.
Trump is the only one who can compel Putin to negotiate
The Finnish president calls US President Donald Trump the only person capable of forcing the Kremlin to negotiate over the war in Ukraine.
"What we need is not so much the power of the carrot to convince Russia to the negotiating table, it's more of the stick that will bring them," Stubb explains.
He adds that during the Alaska meeting, Trump tried to persuade Putin with a “carrot,” but recently, his “stick” approach has grown stronger.
Optimism for negotiation results
Stubb expresses hope that a two-phase peace process, a ceasefire followed by expanded peace talks, will yield results in the coming days and weeks.
"We'll keep on working at it. The key is to engage and try to find solutions and be pragmatic," he says.
Earlier, Finland announced it would send its 30th military aid package to Ukraine. The deliveries within this package will be worth approximately 52 million euros. The package will consist mainly of new orders from Finnish companies.
