Golf diplomacy: Finnish president talks turkey with Trump
Alexander Stubb made a surprise visit to Florida on the weekend, where he played golf with Donald Trump and spoke to him at length about the war in Ukraine. Shortly afterwards, Trump declared that he was "very angry, pissed off" at Putin for questioning the legitimacy of the Ukrainian leadership and threatened to impose new sanctions against Russia if it refused to show willingness to make peace. Did the visit make a real difference?
Europe's message got through
Stubb made the most of his meeting with Trump, Helsingin Sanomat comments with approval:
“Of course there's the risk of burning one's fingers in dealing with the unpredictable Trump. ... But Stubb had had time at the Paris summit to discuss his visit with the EU leaders and Volodymyr Zelensky. Although at first glance it was just a relaxed round of golf, it's obvious that Stubb was also in Florida as Europe's ambassador. The most important message to Trump was that a clear deadline must be set for the ceasefire in Ukraine, for example by Easter, and that Putin must no longer be allowed to keep playing for time. This message was also well received in Florida.”
Don't be a pawn in the US president's game
Finland could be suspected of trying to curry favour with the US administration, Turun Sanomat fears:
“It's hard to assess the concrete significance of this meeting. What's more, Trump is pursuing US interests even at the expense of his allies, so the impact of a single meeting on Trump's policy should not be exaggerated. Golf diplomacy also has its risks. Trump will play up the meeting in his own communication, which could give the impression that Finland is playing up to an unpredictable president to promote its own interests.”
Getting serious in Saudi Arabia
Stubb gave Trump an important boost, writes political scientist Nikolai Mitrokhin on Facebook:
“The Finnish president managed to approach the US president in a centre-right manner, and during seven hours of 'golfing' was able to clear the pink fog in Trump's brain a little and make him realise that both Putin and Zelensky have been leading him around by the nose and prolonging hostilities to the max - upon which he gave both of them a dressing down. Trump's first official trip to Saudi Arabia has been planned. There, he will either meet a Putin who is prepared to engage in genuine negotiations or he will talk to the king about how Opec can cover the deficit caused by the halt in Russian oil supplies after the introduction of US sanctions.”