Finnish President: “Donald Trump Is Very Serious About Getting a Peace Deal Sooner Rather Than Later”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb emphasized that US President-elect Donald Trump appears genuinely committed to securing a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, following a call with Trump on Monday night, Stubb told Bloomberg in an interview on November 12.

“We in Europe and the rest of the world need to understand that Donald Trump is very serious about getting a peace deal sooner rather than later,” Stubb said.

He noted that the period between Trump’s election victory on Nov. 5 over Vice President Kamala Harris and his Jan. 20 inauguration presents a “window of opportunity for these negotiations.”

Speaking from the COP29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, Stubb laid out 4 key prerequisites for achieving peace in Ukraine.

According to him, territory remains a significant issue—“and here we don’t know where things are going to settle,” he explained. Security guarantees, justice, and reconstruction make up the remaining three points, with reconstruction being the “low-hanging fruit” among them.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Finland joined NATO, bringing its 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) border with Russia under the alliance’s security umbrella. This addition now accounts for more than half of NATO’s Eastern flank, establishing Finland as the alliance member with the longest shared border with Russia.

Previously, Finland proposed to host a base for large NATO reconnaissance drones on its territory.