Finnish President Alexander Stubb believes that efforts towards securing an agreed ceasefire in Ukraine are moving in the right direction.
That is according to Reuters, Ukrinform reports.
“I feel carefully optimistic that at this particular moment in time, we’re moving in the right direction, both militarily on the ground, as [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky has pointed out, and also in terms of the ceasefire and the peace process. We can’t give a timetable now, but in an ideal world a Ukraine ceasefire would be declared over the weekend,” Stubb said during a press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and after a meeting of Northern European nations’ leaders in Osl.
Stubb was speaking after holding two conversations in the last 24 hours with Zelensky and one with U.S. President Donald Trump, as fighting continued on the ground.
He also noted that the “Coalition of the Willing” would meet tomorrow, on Saturday, via videoconference. According to him, the meeting will address sanctions that could be imposed on Russia if it refuses to agree to a proposed 30-day ceasefire.
“We have to be realistic. Even if a ceasefire is announced, Russia will very likely break it. Now it’s a question of what to do next. Various sanctions packages are already under discussion. Russia must be forced to make peace,” Stubb told Yle.
Stoere appeared somewhat more cautious on progress in the peace talks.
“It depends, as always, with what do we compare. So compared to some weeks ago, I think there are some positive elements. I think the fact that the U.S. are still engaged, that they reconfirmed their engagement – if you read the wording of President Trump yesterday evening, I think we contributed to that,” he told Reuters.
Russia has unilaterally declared a three-day ceasefire running from May 8-10 to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Trump on Thursday called for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, warning that Washington and its partners would impose further sanctions if the ceasefire was not respected.
Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto / Lehtikuva
Source: Stubb: Ceasefire efforts in Ukraine moving in right direction
