The president of Finland urges President Trump to impose a deadline to Vladimir Putin on April 20 to agree on a high fire 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 Trump is “probably the only person in the world who can mediate peace.”
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But he argued that the high fire negotiation process should not be open.
“We need a high fire and need a date for the stop the fire,” Stubb said. “And that date should be April 20.”
The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, urges President Trump to promote his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to agree on a high Ukraine fire before April 20. (Getty images)
On April 20 he would mark three months since the inauguration of Trump, and is also Easter Orthodox.
“If President Putin, who is the only one who does not accept the fire, because the Americans want it, the Europeans want it, the Ukrainians want it, if it does not force it to the high fire, then we should look for a colossal set of sanctions from the United States and Europe,” Stubb said.
Trump has talked about a “psychological deadline” for Russia to accept fire, but has refused to name a date.
Stubb said Putin “respects, and in many ways the fears, Donald Trump.”
Finland, a neighbor of Russia, with a border shared with more than 800 miles, overturned decades of neutrality two years ago when he joined NATO, alarmed by the war in Ukraine.
Stubb believes that Ukraine should also be allowed to join the “long -term” military alliance, a position that goes against the Trump administration.
Stubb sat for an interview with Fox News after meeting with President Trump in Mar-A-Lago. (Alex Hogan/Fox News)
After the conversations and a golf round with Trump in Florida, the Finnish leader said that European leaders are paying attention to American complaints that Europe does not spend enough money in defense, trusting in its place in the United States.
“Europe needs to assume more responsibility for its own security, more responsibility for its own defense,” said Stubb. “I think we are doing exactly that.”
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, makes a gesture as the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, is next to him in Mar-A-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, USA, UU., March 29, 2025. (Presidential Office through Instagram/Brochure through Reuters)
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He described the European American relationship as “in a transition”, but insisted: “We are allies.
“The fact that there are sometimes differences between Europeans and Americans does not mean that we are going to cut or divorce.”
