Ukrainians across Finland have reacted with shock and dismay to US President Donald Trump's 28-point peace plan for ending the war in Ukraine.
"So many war crimes committed by Russian soldiers, Russian officials. It’s more like a surrender plan than a peace plan, in my opinion," Jyväskylä resident Andrii Gontarenko told Yle.
Gontarenko has lived in the Central Finland city since 2011 with his partner Mariia Gavriushenko, and they have helped Ukrainian citizens who have arrived in the region since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Gavriushenko told Yle that the plan "legalises Russian aggression", noting that all the basic elements for a real and lasting peace are missing from the document — for example, the complete withdrawal of Russian troops, the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and holding Russia accountable for its war crimes.
She added that she considers "shocking" the plan's proposal that areas of Ukraine currently occupied by Russian forces should be recognised as now belonging to Russia.
"It’s a surrender"
Olena Herasymenko, head of the Finnish Ukrainians Association in Turku, told Yle she is very disappointed by the terms of the proposed plan — and the manner in which it was drafted.
"This agreement is being made more between America and Russia. No one asks Ukraine what it thinks," Herasymenko said, noting that European countries have also been relegated to the sidelines of the peace process.
"Of course, we Ukrainians want peace more than anyone, but this would be a very unfair agreement. You can’t call this a peace agreement. It’s a surrender of territory," she added.
"This world is pretty hopeless"
Kristina Lieskakova of Ukraine House in Tampere believes that it will be impossible for Ukraine to agree to the terms of the plan.
"We don’t know when the war will end, but agreements like this won’t work," Lieskakova said, adding that the proposal seems like yet another attempt to force Ukraine to surrender to Russia.
Oleksandr Kazakov meanwhile told Yle that the plan shows very clearly that the US President has become a fully-fledged ally of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
"At the moment, the United States represents only Russia’s interests in Europe and the entire world," Kazakov said, noting how angry he felt when he read the terms.
"It made me feel that this world is pretty hopeless," he said.
Orpo: No peace from this plan
Finland's political leaders have also criticised the terms of the White House peace plan.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told Yle that the "problematic" proposal appears to have been written from Russia's perspective.
"Sustainable peace cannot be agreed upon without Ukraine’s acceptance. This is our primary starting point," Orpo said.
Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) echoed these comments, noting that Ukraine must be involved in the process.
"Ukraine will take its own leading role here in determining how it wants to conduct these peace discussions. It is obvious that the criteria for peace must be fair and must not reward Russia as the aggressor," Häkkänen said.
