“Diplomacy is rarely a transaction,” he said. “I mean, interests can be transactional, but even then, you have to find mutual interests. And what we’re seeing now is the demise of international institutions or laws especially at a time in history when we need them more than ever – whether it’s about solving conflicts, solving climate change, solving ethical issues associated with artificial intelligence or biotechnology, solving development.”
And, he added: “Some people create this illusion that you can live in a world with national borders and that we are not dependent, and I think there is nothing further from the truth, as we are seeing in the Strait of Hormuz right now. We are all affected, if nowhere else, at least at the gas pump.”
Talking, but not WhatsApp
Stubb has a better claim than most European leaders to know what Trump might do next. He correctly predicted last fall that Trump would hit Russian President Vladimir Putin with a “big stick” while many were skeptical. Strong US sanctions on Russian oil exports followed a few weeks later.
But now Trump has eased those sanctions to reduce the impact of the Iran war on oil prices – giving us a way to save Russia’s ailing economy from the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Is Stubb worried that Trump is losing interest and may renege on his promise to end the war in Ukraine?
“I mean, I hope not. He’s too busy with Iran right now,” Stubb said. “For obvious reasons, the Iran war is taking a lot of oxygen away from what’s going on in Ukraine. In my opinion, it looks like the peace talks are now on hold.” After three rounds of talks involving officials from Washington, Kyiv and Moscow, nothing is planned in the near future. “This could be because of Iran or it could be because they have reached the end of the road.”
