Finland's president urges Europe to hold its nerve as he warns no ceasefire likely soon in Ukraine
HALVALA, Finland (AP) — A ceasefire in Ukraine is unlikely before the spring and European allies need to keep up support despite a corruption scandal that has engulfed Kyiv, President Alexander Stubb of Finland told The Associated Press.
Europe, meanwhile, will require ‘’sisu,’’ a Finnish word meaning endurance, resilience and grit, to get through the winter months, he said, as Russia continues its hybrid attacks and information war across the continent.
Stubb also needs that quality as one of the key European interlocutors between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As the leader of one of Europe’s smaller countries, but one that shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, he is well aware of what’s at stake.
In the 1940s, after two wars with Russia, Finland lost about 10% of its territory to Moscow and agreed to become militarily neutral. But Finland’s losses were much less than they could have been as Finnish troops displayed “sisu” and inflicted heavy losses on the Soviet army, despite being vastly outnumbered.
https://apnews.com/article/stubb-finland-trump-ukraine-putin-russia-europe-8bdbd76ed7c04b5ff6af8abafc7b837c