Finnish president has become more pessimistic about peace in Ukraine over past year
Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said he has become more pessimistic about the prospects of achieving peace in Ukraine over the past year.
Source: Stubb in an interview with The Telegraph, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Stubb pointed to three things that have changed over the past year in the context of the peace process regarding Ukraine.
Quote: "I think I'm more pessimistic now, in that sense, more realistic.
Having said that, there are three things that are different from last year, as far as Ukraine is concerned. The first one is that we are involved in peace negotiations, which were not prevalent at the time."
Details: In addition, Stubb noted that Ukraine is currently in a much stronger position on the battlefield than it was a year ago, pointing out that Ukrainian forces are once again pushing back the Russians and reclaiming territory.
Meanwhile, he named the war in the Middle East as a negative factor.
"What I would have told you, before the war in Iran started, was that the Russian economy is suffering," he said. "Before the war, they were looking at zero growth, zero reserves, 16% interest rates, double-digit inflation and an incapacity of the Russian government to pay soldiers. And they were looking at a budget deficit going up from a deficit from last year of US$83 billion (£62 billion) to a deficit of US$130 billion (£97 billion)."
He added that now, with rising oil prices and the lifting of sanctions, "we don't know [what will happen – ed.], so this will have a negative effect".
Background:
- Stubb also said recently that Europe could reach an agreement with the US president that would help simultaneously resolve both the oil crisis in the Persian Gulf and the war in Ukraine.
- He also said Ukraine could gain certain benefits from the conflict in the Middle East, which may hinder Russia's ability to cooperate militarily with Iran.
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