Finland: Peace Negotiations Must Be on Ukraine's Terms

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Finland is pushing for peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia to follow Ukraine's provisions. Indonesia's role is considered crucial in supporting peace between the two countries according to international law.

Finland's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Lauri Voionmaa said Russia continues to maintain the war and the Kremlin refuses to negotiate a meaningful peace.

"From our perspective, the essential principle of a peace agreement is to be in accordance with Ukraine's terms in order to achieve a lasting peace. Based on our experience as a mediator, peace talks must be acceptable to both parties, and in this case Ukraine is the invaded party," Voionmaa said at a press conference in Jakarta, Thursday (6/2/2025). Also present was the Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia, Pekka Kaihilahti.

Voionmaa said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had proposed a good peace plan, covering a range of concrete topics, from territorial integrity to nuclear security to environmental repair.

According to Voionmaa, Finland considers it important for Indonesia to participate in maintaining international law and principles in accordance with the United Nations (UN) Charter. Finland sees the Russian invasion as a serious violation of the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We hope that Indonesia will take a position in the UN by supporting Ukraine when there is a resolution supporting Ukraine. There will be a discussion of a resolution on February 24th, right on the third anniversary of the invasion," said Voionmaa.

According to Kompas' records, for example, Indonesia abstained from voting to freeze Russia from the UN Human Rights Council in 2022. A year later, Indonesia supported a non-binding resolution calling on Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and withdraw its troops.

During the Cold War, Finland chose to remain neutral between the Western and Eastern Bloc feuds. Just like Ukraine, Russia gave Finland an ultimatum when it wanted to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Finland finally joined NATO in 2023. “There are certain moments when it is impossible to remain neutral,” Voionmaa said.

Kaihilahti said Indonesia's support plays an important role because the Ukraine-Russia war is not just a bilateral or regional issue. It is a global issue because it is related to systemic problems.

In addition to the UN Charter, Russia is considered to have violated several international agreements that guarantee Ukraine's territorial integrity. One of them is the Budapest Memorandum. In 1994, Ukraine agreed to give up nuclear weapons and in return received guarantees of independence and sovereignty from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Therefore, Ukraine has the right to choose which bloc it wants to affiliate with.

“This is not just a European problem. Russia is setting a bad precedent globally that one country can start a war, take land and negotiate a compromise. Congo is an example of a country that follows the tactics of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Kaihilahti said.

Kaihilahti added that Finland does not want Ukraine to suffer the same fate as it did. Russia colonized Finland for over 100 years. At that time, the UN had not been formed so peace negotiations between the two countries were unfair.

"As a result, we lost 10 percent of our territory, lost most of our industrial areas, and lost the nickel mines that were the largest in the world at that time. Ten percent of our population had to be evacuated. We also had to pay reparations to the victorious countries and had to reconstruct the country," Kaihilahti said.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has entered its third year. Kaihilahti said Helsinki has so far disbursed nearly 3 billion euros (Rp 50.9 trillion) to the Ukrainian military. This amount is excluding humanitarian aid in Ukraine and other countries. Finland will continue to help Ukraine as long as the war lasts.

"We are committed to helping as long as it takes. Of course, this has implications for aid to other countries and at home. We are holding back budgets in the health and education systems. Finland's economy is not in good shape," Kaihilahti said.

Cooperation between Finland and Russia was also cut off. Citing Reuters in 2024, for example, Russia seized the assets of Finnish energy company Fortum after the invasion in 2022. The company has 12 power plants in Russia. In 2023, Fortum announced a loss of 1.7 billion euros after leaving Russia.

According to Kaihilahti, Russia’s contribution to Finland’s total trade has dropped drastically. “Before the Crimea issue, Russia contributed 10 percent and then it dropped to 5 percent before the Ukraine-Russia war. Now, Russia’s contribution to Finland’s trade is almost 0 percent. So from our perspective, the sooner the war ends, the better,” he said.

The UN is discussing reforms to the architecture of peacebuilding and peacekeeping operations. The reform efforts are based on the Pact for the Future issued by the UN in September 2024.

Voionmaa recently participated in the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Ministerial Preparatory Meeting: The Future of UN Peacekeeping, at the TNI Peacekeeping Mission Center (PMPP), Sentul, Bogor. The event took place on 4-5 February 2025.

“Indonesia and Finland are solid contributors to UN peacekeeping missions. Both countries have an interest in reforming peacekeeping operations to make them fit for purpose, and at the same time there are discussions on peacebuilding architecture. These are running in parallel,” Voionmaa said.

The discussion of peacebuilding architecture reform includes the issue of utilizing the peace mediator network, financial architecture, and development financial assistance. Meanwhile, peacekeeping operation reform includes better mission planning, troop deployment in more specific issues, and quality troop training according to conditions in the field.

However, Voionmaa said, the system being built together is facing many challenges, including because of the Ukraine-Russia War.

“Before the invasion, the world was easier to navigate, for example focusing on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Now the war keeps coming up in every bilateral meeting and affects our relations with other countries, such as China, when discussing multilaterals,” Voionmaa said.