Finnish President Alexander Stubb On Trump’s Approach to Russia and Ukraine | Amanpour and Company

Finnish President Alexander Stubb On Trump’s Approach to Russia and Ukraine | Amanpour and Company

Can I just first start by asking you what was your conversation like when you met President Trump and spent hours golfing with him and talking to him um you know in in March I think it was what did you say to each other that gives you I clarity or maybe confidence about NATO and the transatlantic alliance. Yeah. I guess the starting point is to say what happens on the golf course stays on the golf course. No give you context. I mean so basically on a golf course a lot of it is of course social but it did give us an opportunity to discuss a few issues. Of course we talked about bilateral things. So Finland and the US we talked about NATO and at the time we also talked about Russia’s war of aggression in uh in Ukraine. So it’s normal sort of diplomatic discourse that you’re able to do in these kinds of situations. And I guess this is the job of presidents to try to influence each other and have have conversations. I do say one thing though, there is nothing so far that I have heard uh from the president or the president’s administration or people around him which would sort of reduce the commitment of the United States to NATO. Quite the contrary, the Americans are pushing the Europeans and the other allies to take more responsibility, and I think the Americans are right for doing it. You know, that that’s fine. But, you know, I’m going to get back to that in a minute. but also President Trump um you know after a certain period of of reaching out to Putin trying to draw him in with honey if you like u kind of blaming President Zalinski for all of this. He he appears to be having a change of heart at least publicly after the Vatican meeting and I believe you were sat next to President Trump during the funeral the whole alphabetic thing. He said there was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities, and towns. Makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war. He’s just tapping me along and has to be dealt with differently. Then in the last 24 hours, JD Vance said, “Russia is quote asking for too much in concessions.” Do you think they’re having a I don’t know, a moment of clarity, a change of heart? Well, I think you know peace negotiations and negotiations about ceasefire are always very complex and there’s always a road that you take and you have different steps on the road and I think in the beginning the Americans rightly tried to convince the Russians to join the negotiating table but now I think the response that we’re seeing from Russia is haphazard or actually negative and now a lot of the American administration is rightly saying that time is running out and that’s why I think actually um we should go for an immediate ceasefire. The Americans have uh suggested it. The Ukrainians have agreed to it. The Europeans support it and the only one who doesn’t want peace actually is Russia. I actually think the Americans want peace more than anything else. And now the tactique might be changing a little bit. And how do you see it playing out then? I mean, we’re speaking in the context of Russia uh having its, you know, its own VE day, remembering the great war as they call it. Um, President Xi has come to stand shoulderto-shoulder with President Putin on the reviewing stand in the Kremlin. Um, actually, President Lula is expected there of Brazil as well. Um, but the Xi Putin thing is a very clear message. I mean, they have a bridge. They have presented themselves to an extent as a kind of anti-US anti-western axis and they clearly are looking for some space to jump into if the US abandons global leadership. Just describe what you think Russia and China are up to. Well, it’s difficult to say. It’s a little bit of a back and forth. You have to remember that in the early 1990s, uh, the Russian and Chinese economy were the same size. Now, China is over 10 times bigger. And to be very frank, Russia is extremely dependent on China, whether economically, technologically, or militarily. So, of course, China plays the geopolitical game and has one hand and one card uh in the pocket of Putin. Um, as far as victory day is concerned, I think it’s very symbolic obviously uh for the Russians, but I think it should also be very symbolic for the Ukrainians and for us uh that promote western values. So I think at this stage we really need to move forward with trying to make sure that we get this ceasefire and then start the peace negotiations. But there is a bigger geopolitical game being uh held here. And I think of course anytime there’s a power vacuum, someone is going to fill it. And China is trying to do that at the moment. And I of course vote for the Americans to stay as engaged as possible. [Music] [Music]

As Europe celebrates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Ukraine is still under brutal Russian attack. And while President Donald Trump vowed to end the war in 24 hours, three months into his second term the negotiations have stalled. Christiane speaks with a man who might have some insight into Trump’s tactics: Finnish president Alexander Stubb. He spent time on the golf course with Trump in March and was seated next to him at Pope Francis’ recent funeral.

Originally aired on May 9, 2025

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Amanpour and Company features wide-ranging, in-depth conversations with global thought leaders and cultural influencers on the issues and trends impacting the world each day, from politics, business and technology to arts, science and sports. Christiane Amanpour leads the conversation on global and domestic news from London with contributions by prominent journalists Walter Isaacson, Michel Martin, Alicia Menendez and Hari Sreenivasan from the Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center in New York City.

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