Finnish President Calls on EU to Appoint Special Representative for Ukraine

This was announced by Finnish President Alexander Stubb in an interview with France 24 during the Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris, as reported by Ukrinform.

“We (the Europeans) need two things. First, a negotiating team, like the Americans, Ukrainians and Russians have. They already had one in Radha in Saudi Arabia. And then, probably, eventually we will need a special envoy to coordinate the action, because although we have good leadership from France and Britain, the question remains: ‘Who is going to be the envoy of Europe? Who do I call?’” Stubb said.

Stubb expressed satisfaction with the actions of the French and British leadership in creating the Coalition of the Willing to support Ukraine. “This is a way to bring Britain back to Ayr and to re-establish constructive engagement between France and Britain. I think our position is very clear. We want Ukraine to win this war. We want them to retain their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The French and British have taken the initiative. And the rest of us move forward and intervene as much as we can,” the Finnish president added.

Read also: Finland to support Ukraine in reforming shelter system

Regarding the likelihood of peacekeepers being deployed to Ukraine, Stubb explained: “A lot of people get the terms and timing mixed up. So we need to look at this in two stages. Stage one is the ceasefire. Stage two is the actual peace agreement. To achieve a ceasefire, you need some assurances. That means you have to help in the air, at sea, maybe on land. That’s the kind of planning that our military is doing now. And the big decisions that are being made here in Paris are part of that first stage. Stage two is when the peace is established, maintained, agreed upon. That’s when you bring in peacekeepers, either crisis management or peacekeeping, under an international mandate. So they’re completely different things. A ceasefire is still a state of war, whereas a peace agreement is when peace begins.”

At the same time, Stubb expressed doubts about the current ceasefire initiatives.

“What we are seeing is classic Russian negotiating tactics. Ukraine wants a full ceasefire. The US wants a full ceasefire. Russia wants a partial ceasefire, which in phase one was about energy infrastructure, which of course the Russians bombed immediately after they agreed to the ceasefire. And the second phase is a ceasefire in the Black Sea. These are all steps in the right direction. But we should never underestimate the ability of the Russians to violate a ceasefire. They will continue to do so. We need a full ceasefire, and we need to monitor that,” Stubb said.

Read also: Ukrainian Foreign Minister on the attack on the Dnieper: This is Putin's response to US requests for a ceasefire

As previously reported, the summit in Paris on March 27 discussed future security guarantees for Ukraine after the end of the war.

Photo: Office of the President