Seoul Gazette - Finnish president Stubb speaks to AFP about Trump, Russia and saunas

Since he came into office in 2024, the leader of the small Nordic country of 5.6 million, has become known for his diplomatic skills, maintaining close relationships with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Trump -- the latter sparked by a round of golf.

The athletic 58-year-old said he did not "want to inflate my role or relationship with the president of the United States.

"I come from a small state, and he represents a superpower," he said, speaking in the president's house on the Helsinki waterfront.

Stubb's next meeting with Trump is scheduled for next week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

- Pragmatic relationship -

Stubb said his relationship with Trump is "very pragmatic," adding: "But let's have no illusions...President Trump is very much a man of his own mind, and he pretty much does what he wants."

An example -- after Google announced last week with great fanfare an at least 13-billion-euro investment in AI-related projects in Finland, Trump on Monday posted a furious message on his Truth Social network.

"I am not happy about this, and want them to change their thinking," Trump said.

But Stubb was upbeat.

"We're happy about the investment, and I think it will do a lot of good for the bilateral relations between the US and Finland," he said.

Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia, has strengthened its ties with the United States after it dropped decades of military non-alignment in 2023 to join the US-led military alliance NATO.

But Trump's threats earlier this year that Washington needed to control Greenland --- an autonomous Danish territory -- for national security reasons, had created a rift with Europe .

"I understand that all the political rhetoric is uncomfortable and of course we stand 100 percent with Denmark. There's no question about it," Stubb said.

"But if you look at the flip side of the coin, I think the Americans are finally understanding the importance of the Arctic," he added, viewing the United States "definitely as a partner" rather than a rival.

- 'Trump very good for NATO' -

Stubb said the mercurial US leader had "been very good for NATO," despite his frequent criticism of the military alliance.

"Member states have increased their defence expenditure for a borderline country like Finland. That's a good thing," Stubb said.

Stubb has earlier spoken about the need for European governments to directly engage with Moscow to resolve the Ukraine war.

"I think at some stage we need to open the communication channels because, you know, you can't have a conversation if you're pressing the mute button," but "so far there's no timeline for it".

Stubb said he was working actively with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store in "the so-called back office".

"We try to help the Ukrainians where we best can. We also have active conversation channels with American negotiators," he added.

but the idea of appointing a European "special envoy" to speak with a single voice -— Stubb's name had even been floated — now seems to have faded.

"You know, I think it's quite clear that Europe is not going to have one voice," he said.

In recent weeks, Europe has seen several "hybrid attacks," such as an explosive-laden drone that was discovered at a German airport in an incident Berlin blamed on Moscow.

Stubb called on Europeans "to be robust in our response" faced by hybrid war waged by Russia on the continent.

"I guess it's safe to say that the line between war and peace has been blurred, and that's the new reality that we live with in Europe right now," he said, prescribing his Nordic remedy.

"Just stay cool, calm and collected, take a sauna, take a nice bath, analyse the situation and act accordingly."

N.Son--SG