Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has called on Finland to support Ukraine’s aim of beginning negotiations on European Union membership as soon as possible.
Speaking by phone with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Tuesday, Nausėda briefed his counterpart on a recent conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and sought Finland’s assessment of US–Russia negotiations and the outcomes of recent meetings, the presidential office said.
The two leaders reaffirmed strong backing for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, stressing that such fundamental principles of international law are “not subject to negotiation”.
Nausėda said that decisions shaping the future of Ukraine and of Europe must involve both Ukrainian and EU representatives.
Many European leaders voiced similar views after US President Donald Trump announced a weekend meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for Ukraine and the EU to be included in talks, for meetings to take place only during a ceasefire, and rejecting any cession of Ukrainian territory.
Earlier on Tuesday, Nausėda’s adviser Frederikas Jansonas said the planned meeting between the US and Russian leaders in Alaska on Friday was a cause for concern.
According to Jansonas, if the talks remain bilateral “it will raise associations with past collusions, when territories were divided without the knowledge of the states”.
The Alaska meeting will be the first between the current US and Russian presidents since 2021, and is scheduled without Zelenskyy’s participation.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said Ukraine’s EU membership would “destroy” the 27-nation bloc. Hungary’s veto has effectively frozen the accession process, though Kyiv said last month it still hoped to persuade Budapest, with “intensive work” going on behind the scenes.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
