Finland's President: Trump Is Running Out Of Patience
- 18.05.2025, 19:19
Stubb stated that Russia has lost its status as a great power.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in a lengthy conversation with White House chief Donald Trump on Saturday, sought to persuade him to reconsider his views on Russia's economic and military power.
Stubb spoke about the conversation with Trump at a security conference in Estonia. The Guardian calls the Finnish president one of the few European leaders with influence over Trump, according to The Agency.
Stubb tried to use his influence in his conversation with Trump to explain to the U.S. president that Russia is no longer a great power, "at least economically." "It's smaller than Italy, a little bit bigger than Spain [economically]. Militarily, it tried to question Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity three years ago. This year it has captured less than 1% of the territory, its interest rate is over 20%, and its reserves are exhausted. So it is no longer a country that can be seen as a major power," Stubb said.
The Finnish president clarified that Trump's worldview is not that far from the 19th century views and that one should try to convey perceptions of Russia's real situation to the US president.
In the course of his conversation with the US president, Stubb got the impression that Trump is running out of patience with Vladimir Putin. "If we put it all together, we could say that Zelensky is patient and President Trump is starting to lose patience, but in the right direction, which is toward Russia," Stubb said.
The president said there is a possibility that Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal will introduce a new sanctions package in Congress this week. It imposes 500% tariffs on countries that continue to buy Russian energy.
Stubb called the sanctions package prepared by the U.S. senators "crushing."
The conversation between Stubb and Trump became known a day before a planned Monday phone conversation between the U.S. president and Putin. On Saturday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the White House expects to find out whether Russia is trying to negotiate to "buy time" and signaled that if so, additional sanctions could be imposed against Moscow.
The outcome of the phone conversation will determine the decision to bring the Graham and Blumenthal-drafted sanctions package to Congress, Stubb said.