Finnish President Stubb: I'm not a pawn, I'm just a backup
Finnish President Alexander Stubb admitted that he cannot influence his American counterpart Donald Trump, despite frequently communicating with him.
He stated this at the Davos Economic Forum, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"When you're from a small country, personal relationships are extremely important. If, as the President of Finland, I can establish a relationship with the President of the United States on the golf course or somewhere else, that's very useful diplomatically. But I'm Finnish, which means I'm very modest. I'd like to dispel the notion that the president of a small country can influence the president of a major power. It's good to have such relationships. But, like the Prime Minister of Norway, I'm more of a backup ," Stubb said.
He fears that details of his communication with Trump will become known, like the recent dressing-down given to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr by the US president for not awarding him a Nobel Prize.
"I'll give you an example regarding our most pressing issue—the war in Ukraine. If I can convey President Zelenskyy's views to President Trump, and then vice versa, and I can share this with my European colleagues, that would be a kind of engagement. You wouldn't just be a pawn on the chessboard , but a peacemaker, and you could do something about it," Stubb outlined.
Finnish President Stubb: I'm not a pawn, I'm just a backup