US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met the Finnish government in Helsinki on Friday and gave a speech on the security situation in Europe.
In his speech, Blinken hoped for a fair peace plan for Ukraine, which is in accordance with the UN Charter. He did not present concrete means for achieving peace, but emphasized that the principle of peace negotiations should be respect for Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.
Above all, Blinken emphasized that Russia must be included in the peace negotiations. According to Blinken, a ceasefire that would only freeze the conflict would not be a sufficient solution.
Researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute Charly Salonius-Pasternak was impressed by Blinken’s speech.
– First of all, I want to emphasize that this was the right speech. It was rhetorically cleverly written and had a lot of information about Finnish history and last year’s events stapled into it.
Salonius-Pasternak says that he has seen numerous carefully prepared American speeches because of his work. According to him, a speech made with piety speaks of its importance.
– This was not an ordinary speech, which is given in connection with every state visit. This was clearly intended as a line, and I believe it will be referenced for a very long time.
Symbolic meaning in Finland
Salonius-Pasternak cannot say with certainty why Blinken decided to give the speech in question in Finland. However, according to him, it has a certain symbolic meaning that the speech emphasizing Russia’s failure is held precisely in NATO’s newest member country and Russia’s neighboring country. Preventing NATO’s eastward expansion has been one of Russia’s main goals.
In his speech in Helsinki, Blinken clearly emphasized that Russia has failed in all its goals, which it hoped to achieve when attacking Ukraine.
Blinken listed eight reasons why Russia has failed. For example, the war has isolated Russia and weakened its army. At the same time, he said that all the anti-Russian measures taken in the West were caused by Russia itself.
– Blinken made it very clear that the United States does not wish for the destruction of the Russian people or the overthrow of the country’s regime. According to him, this should happen at the request of the citizens. Ukraine simply needs a just and permanent peace, Salonius-Pasternak sees.
The foreign minister hosting Blinken’s visit was also on the same line Pekka Haavisto.
– Russia’s future belongs to Russia, but it cannot be an aggressive and imperialist country that attacks its neighbors, Haavisto says.
According to Haavisto, Blinken’s visit left him with a good taste.
– Blinken is very satisfied that Finland is a member of NATO. Finland’s views on this region and Russia’s development are clearly listened to and valued. Arctic issues also came up strongly today.
Two central themes in the speech
Research doctor of the Institute of Foreign Policy who participated in ‘s special broadcast Iro Sarkkä sees two central themes in Blinken’s speech.
– The first message is that Russia has failed. Another message is that Ukraine has solid support from the United States and the value community of the Western world, says Särkkä.
According to Särkä, the speech was aimed not only at Russia but also at the Finnish audience.
– I think that Blinken wanted to say that he noticed a certain kind of fatigue in supporting Ukraine in some allied countries, because the war has already lasted more than a year. There is starting to be some kind of thinking in the air that there should be a truce in Ukraine, or that Ukraine should perhaps hand over some of its territories to Russia. According to Blinken, this kind of thinking does not work, Särkkä says.
– I believe that Blinken wanted to use his speech to send a message to the Finns that we will strengthen NATO’s defense together in the future, and that every area of NATO will also be protected when necessary. Now this also applies to Finland, Salonius-Pasternak estimates.