Minister of Defence Antti Häkkänen (NCP) spoke at a press conference in Helsinki on 31 January 2025. Häkkänen on Monday stated to YLE that Finland is treating a possible peacekeeping operation in Ukraine seriously, but said it remains premature to discuss committing Finnish peacekeepers to the operation. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)
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MINISTER of Defence Antti Häkkänen (NCP) stated on YLE A-studio on Monday that it is premature to discuss deploying Finnish peacekeepers to Ukraine.
Häkkänen said Finland has yet to make any decisions about the possible peacekeeping operation but is considering the operation seriously – from its own “difficult” geographical position and with an emphasis on the primacy of its own defence and security interests.
“This isn’t an operation in a far-off developing country, but it’s about building some sort of a military hamper against the threat of the dangerous Russia,” he commented to the public broadcasting company.
“Finland is in a difficult geographical position, so we’ll weigh this up from our own starting point. We’re keeping a cool head also in that sense.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday announced the UK is prepared to contribute troops to uphold the conditions of an agreed ceasefire in Ukraine. Seven European leaders convened in Paris on Monday for an emergency security meeting in a bid to, effectively, secure a seat in peace negotiations over Ukraine, amid reports of an imminent bilateral meeting between Russian and US officials in Saudi Arabia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday reiterated that Ukraine would not recognise any peace agreement trashed out over its head.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen represented the Baltic and Nordic countries in the meeting in Paris on Monday. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wasted no time in denouncing the meeting as a gathering of “pro-war, anti-Trump, frustrated European leaders” intent on “preventing a peace agreement in Ukraine” – a sobering reminder of the divisions in Europe.
Häkkänen on Monday viewed that Europe has to prove to the US that it has either the economic or military muscle to have a role in the peace process, as well as strengthen its own defence capabilities.
“Europe must get involved quickly and flex its muscle so that the US considers Europe a more rational actor,” he analysed.
The continent, he added, must then start drawing up its own common strategy to address the situation. “Is it luring or coaxing [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin into peace negotiations? This is a very relevant question,” he said.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
