Finland’s INKOO The president of Ukraine has arrived in Berlin in advance of Wednesday’s high-stakes European summits. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy prior to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday. The talks are part of a series of urgent meetings aimed at strengthening support for Ukraine and gaining influence with President Donald Trump.
In anticipation of his meeting with European allies, President Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday morning that he “will be speaking to European Leaders in a short while.” They are excellent individuals that are eager to close a deal.
In Finland, which borders Russia by 830 miles, there is little hope that those measures will be successful. Earlier this year, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen wrote on X, “Take it from us,” “Putin has no intention to stop his expansionist pursuit.”
Preceding Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this will be the first time the Russian leader and a U.S. president have met. While some European officials have openly praised the negotiations, others caution that they may be expensive.
“We applaud President Trump’s efforts to bring about a fair, sustainable, and sovereignty-respecting peace for Ukraine,” stated Arianna Podesta, a spokesman for the European Commission.
However, that ignores the serious concerns of nations who have previously lost land to Russia, according to renowned Finnish political analyst Jarmo Makela. He pointed out that in a post-World War II peace agreement with Moscow, Finland was forced to cede 12% of its territory. Makela told NPR, “Everyone is very worried at this moment.”
President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and leaders from Finland, France, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the European Union are all attending three consecutive, last-minute virtual meetings among European leaders, including one called by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Speaking to reporters prior to the summit, Zelenskyy charged that Putin was attempting to control Ukraine because “he does not want a sovereign Ukraine.” He cautioned that it would be risky to force Kyiv to concede Russia’s demand for authority over an area of roughly 90,000 square kilometers in the Donbas.
Makela worries that the result would be similar to the Munich Agreement of 1938, in which Nazi Germany took over a portion of Czechoslovakia in exchange for vows that were later broken. “The fundamental emotion is apprehension that Putin will be granted a portion of Ukraine in exchange for a pledge that he won’t seize the remainder. Then he took it all after some time,” he claimed.
He cautions that any “land swap” agreement between the United States and Russia that gives Putin the Ukrainian area his forces now control could pave the way for the Kremlin’s next step. “The countries which really are preparing themselves for an immediate confrontation are the Baltic countries and Poland,” Makela stated. “Finland and the Nordic countries, we are preparing for the war, but we don’t expect it to take place immediately (but) we do expect it.”
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