Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Tuesday urged US President Donald Trump to take measures that would force Russia to the negotiating table with Ukraine, saying he hoped Trump’s patience with Moscow will “run out”.
Stubb, who has befriended Trump playing golf and leads a country that shares a long border with Russia, has been among the European leaders engaged in recent talks with the US leader to try to resolve the conflict.
“I hope that the patience of Western countries, especially the United States, will run out. Because every time President Trump’s patience has run out, he has taken some kind of action that has helped to reach a solution,” Stubb told reporters.
He cited tariffs that the United States has said it will impose on India this week.
“The most recent example was the tariffs imposed on India because India buys Russian oil, gas, and weapons. Now, if President Trump were to do the same to countries X, Y, and Z, it may well be that we will return to the negotiating table,” Stubb said.
Trump has tied issues of war and peace to trade, threatening to slap 50 percent duties on New Delhi in retaliation for its continued purchases of Russian oil, which Washington argues help finance Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
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