"Putin can't win": Finland's president is "worried" - and gives Ukraine a cautious pointer
Created: 01/16/2023, 02:13 p.m
By: Florian Naumann
Diplomacy on the substitute bench: Sauli Niinistö (left) and Vladimir Putin at a joint ice hockey match in 2012.
© imago stock&people
Finland's President Sauli Niinistö is considered a kind of Putin understander.
The situation in the Ukraine war "worries" him.
But he also reports of “calm” at the border.
Helsinki/Munich - They used to play ice hockey together - in the meantime, Finland's President Sauli Niinistö and Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin have had a diplomatic ice age.
In an interview, Niinistö has now explained his view of Russia's situation in the Ukraine war.
The conservative described an unusually quiet situation on the Finnish-Russian border.
However, Niinistö was still "concerned" about the state of affairs.
The developments are even more worrying than originally assumed, Finland's head of state told the Swedish newspaper
Dagens Nyheter
.
Between the lines he seemed to want to point the way to a possible peace for Ukraine.
Putin 'all in': 'But he can't win' - Finland's President 'worried'
"It's much worse than I could have imagined," Niinistö said in the interview published on Saturday.
"At first it looked as if Putin had made a serious misjudgment, as if he thought there was a massive threat against Ukraine." However, the most recent developments point to a different background: "A war against Ukrainian society" is now starting The end is not in sight.
Niinistö was particularly dismayed by Putin's rhetoric after the illegal annexation of several Ukrainian territories.
The Kremlin boss described the region as an "eternal" part of Russia.
With that, Putin went “all in”.
"It still worries me that we are dealing with someone who puts everything on one card without being able to win," explained the Finn.
"And what does it mean to lose when you've played for everything?"
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Helsinki's head of state drew parallels to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and his unsuccessful "Winter War" in Finland.
Authoritarian rulers find it difficult to understand that "free democratic countries have principles and strong wills of their own," Niinistö said.
He did not see a concrete way out of the situation in the conversation with
Dagens Nyheter
- but the need for a "lawful peace" from the Ukrainian point of view.
As well as for a solution that does not stir up "vengefulness" in Russia.
It was difficult for Finland in 1944 to cede large parts of Karelia to the Soviet Union, despite a great desire for peace, said Niinistö cautiously.
However, Ukraine must find a corresponding decision itself.
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At least Finland's president wanted to recognize one or two glimmers of hope.
Russia is the "master" at selling even large losses as "victory" at home, explained Niinistö.
And he also saw the threat to Finland as manageable, at least for the time being: he saw “no immediate risk”.
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"It's quieter than ever on our border," said Niinistö.
"I think it's so calm because Russia doesn't have the means to change the situation." In other words, Russia's military is tied down in Ukraine - despite all the threats that have been made in the meantime.
Nevertheless, Finland is "prepared".
At the same time, Niinistö reported on a phone call with Putin: The Kremlin chief took the news of Finland's planned NATO membership surprisingly calmly, he said.
Niinistö speculated that this could possibly be due to domestic political calculations.
The Kremlin may not want to tell the Russians that "we now have a problem in northern Europe".
According to Putin, he saw "no danger" for Russia in the message.
"'Of course it's a mistake what you're doing,' he said, 'but that's not particularly worrying'." (
fn
)