Finland's Stubb says he urged Trump to set Ukraine ceasefire deadline during surprise visit

By Sertac Aktan with AP and Reuters

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has said he urged US President Donald Trump to set a deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine in order to end the war, after returning from a surprise visit to Florida.

Stubb made his surprise trip to the US on Saturday, when he met with Trump in Florida and discussed the strengthening of the two countries' bilateral relations and played in a golf tournament.

Speaking in London on Sunday, Stubb told Finnnish reporters that the two leaders discussed the war in Ukraine, where he reiterated his country's and Europe's support for Ukraine as well as their view that the war was instigated solely by Russia.

He also said he urged Trump to consider setting a deadline for a ceasefire in order to achieve it: "a ceasefire must be achieved in time, and in order for it to be achieved in time, a deadline is needed. And our outcome is that 20 April would be a good time for a full ceasefire without any kind of conditions."

Stubb also said he made the argument that 20 April would be ideal "because it is Easter and because President Donald Trump will have been in office for three months."

After their meeting, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, "President Stubb and I look forward to strengthening the partnership between the United States and Finland, and that includes the purchase and development of a large number of badly needed Icebreakers for the US, delivering Peace and International Security for our Countries and the World."

Hours after meeting Stubb, the US president said during an interview that he is "very angry" and "pissed off" with Russian President Vladimir Putin after the latter criticised the leadership of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Friday.

Providing more insight into his reasoning, he added that “New leadership means you’re not going to have a deal for a long time, right?”

Trump also said that he expects to speak with Putin this week.