Élysée sources: This is the main point of the meeting between Stubb and Macron

President of the Republic Alexander Stubb meet the president of France Emmanuel Macron on Monday at the Élysée Palace. The topics of the meeting include the bilateral relations between Finland and France, Russia’s war of aggression and the ongoing peace negotiations, as well as the security policy situation in Europe and the Arctic region.

According to Élysée sources, the main reason for the visit is the current bilateral cooperation between Finland and France: the focus of the meeting is, among other things, nuclear energy cooperation, which is related to Helen’s For SMR small nuclear power plants.

In October, Finland and France agreed on a nuclear energy declaration of intent, the goal of which is long-term and versatile cooperation in the nuclear energy sector. The cooperation includes, among other things, the joint construction of small modular reactors (SMR) for the production of energy or heat.

According to an Élysée source, the presidents plan to make “certain announcements” regarding the cooperation. In addition to nuclear power, the cooperation between France and Finland also involves defense and security, the energy sector, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and critical minerals and metals.

“The cooperation is very comprehensive and the visit is an opportunity to put it in the spotlight,” an Élysée source said before the meeting of the presidents.

On Monday, the presidents will also meet via video link from Paris with the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries in the so-called NB8 format. The focus of the meeting is the security of the Arctic region and the situation in Ukraine.

Stubb and Macron also celebrate the cultural cooperation between Finland and France by visiting a painter in the Petit Palais in Paris Pekka Halonen in a retrospective exhibition. According to the French, the close cultural cooperation between the two countries is well illustrated by the fact that Halonen was, in his time, a world-famous French artist Paul Gauguinin pupil.

The situation in Ukraine

France has been a key player both in launching the coalition of willing countries and in creating security guarantees for Ukraine. France has also strongly pushed for a European presence in the ongoing peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, which are being led by the United States. According to the French view, President Macron could be a suitable European representative for the negotiations.

“We demand close cooperation and participation in the negotiations, not out of selfishness, but because our interests are at stake and because we don’t trust anyone to defend them,” the Élysée source said.

Sanctions stuck

The fourth anniversary of the war of aggression against Russia will be celebrated on Tuesday.

France, Finland and most of the EU countries have hoped that the 20th Russia sanctions package would be approved before the anniversary.

The EU’s foreign ministers are trying to find an agreement on the matter at the meeting of foreign ministers to be held in Brussels on Monday. According to Kauppalehti’s information, EU diplomats were able to reach an agreement on the sanctions package on Friday in other respects, except that Hungary and Slovakia left reservations on the package’s acceptance. In addition, some countries still had reservations regarding the maritime service ban for tankers carrying Russian oil.

On Sunday, Hungary announced that it would block the sanctions package unless Ukraine allows oil to flow through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. Foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said in X that Hungary plans to exercise its veto on Monday at the foreign ministers’ meeting.

Russia’s sanctions package would include, among other things, a ban on providing maritime transport services, such as insurance and repairs, to ships carrying Russian oil. It would also include tightening measures to prevent evasion of sanctions through Central Asian countries and a ban on crypto transactions with Russia.

EU diplomats still hope that the sanctions package could be approved before Tuesday, when the president of the commission Ursula von der Leyen visits Kiev.