Alexander Stubb and Donald Trump agreed to expand the partnership between the United States and Finland.
One of the topics was the purchase of the United States of the icebreakers to enhance the influence in the Arctic.
Finland President Alexander Stubb on Saturday, March 29, made an unofficial visit to US President Donald Trump in Florida. The leaders of the two countries discussed the strengthening of bilateral partnership, war in Ukraine and play a golf party. The meeting took place in the Golf club Trump International Golf Club belonging to the US leader.
One of the important topics of the negotiations was the future purchase of US icebreakers to strengthen the impact in the Arctic. “President Stubb is looking forward to the opportunity to strengthen partnership between the United States and Finland, including the purchase and development of a large number of main icebreakers for the United States that will provide peace and international security for our countries and around the world,” Trump wrote on his social platform of truth.
Trump’s meeting with Stubb took place the day after the visit of the US Vice -President Ji Di Di Di Di Vensu to the US military base in Greenland, the autonomous territory of Denmark, which is a close ally of Finland in Northern Europe. Vance accused Denmark of insufficient Greenland protection. If the United States is not interested in Greenland, then Russia and China will do this, which expands the presence in the region, he said.
Trump’s claims to Greenland
Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Greenland against the backdrop of increasing competition in the world for control over Arctic. Denmark and most of the residents of Greenland are against the sale of this island of the United States. In an interview with NBC News on March 29, Trump said that he did not reject the “use of military force” to establish control of Greenland, but believes that there is a “good probability” of achieving this goal without the use of force.
When he was asked what signal to buy Greenland will send Russia and the world, Trump replied: “I do not think about it. It doesn’t care. ”
World leader in the production of icebreakers
Finland is the world leader in the production of icebreakers: about 80 percent of these vessels adhere to Finnish companies, and about 60 percent was built at the Finnish shipyard. In November, the former US president, Joe Biden, Canada and Finland, signed an agreement on joint work on icebreakers to jointly develop the Arctic and polar Iceings through knowledge, information and resources.
The United States intends to grow an ice highway to resist Russia in the Arctic, in January the US presidential adviser Mike Volz said in January. He recalled that Russia owns more than 60 icebreakers, including atomic ones, and in the United States there are only two of them, and one recently failed.
We have two of them, and one recently burned out, ”said Volz, noting that China is also actively building from the icebreakers and expands its presence in the region.
Currently, the only active US ice is the Polar Star, built in 1976. The second polar sea icebreakers have not been used since 2010 from the engine breakdown. The third icebreaker Hili, put into operation in 1999, in 2020 received serious damage from the fire and was sent for repairs.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.