Despite the recent cooling of relations between the European Union and the United States due to the Ukraine crisis and tariff disputes, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, a member of the European Union, suddenly visited the United States on the 29th and met with US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida to discuss the issue of the US purchasing icebreakers from Finland. Trump posted on his social media platform "Truth Society" saying, "President Stubb and I look forward to strengthening the Finland US partnership," including "procuring and developing a large number of icebreakers urgently needed by the United States. The Finnish Presidential Office stated in a statement that Stub's visit to Mar-a-Lago estate to meet with Trump was an "informal visit". On April 3, 2014, in Helsinki, Finland, the icebreaker "Baltic Sea" docked at the pier. According to Reuters, on the 29th, Stub had breakfast and lunch with Trump, played golf together, and exchanged views on multiple diplomatic issues such as the Ukraine crisis. Before departing, Stubb said he hoped to use "icebreaker diplomacy" to maintain good relations between Finland and the United States, as well as with Trump. In November last year, the previous US government signed the "Icebreaker Cooperation Agreement" with Canada and Finland, in which the three parties hoped to "jointly develop world-class polar icebreakers". On the 13th of this month, Trump announced during a meeting with the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Mark Rutte, that the United States intends to order 48 icebreakers to "strengthen its presence in the Arctic Circle". As the country with the longest border with Russia within the European Union, Finland's strong "anti Russian and pro American" sentiment after the Ukraine crisis escalated in 2022 has changed its long-standing military neutrality principle. It officially joined NATO in April 2023 and has become more dependent on the United States in areas such as security and defense. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on the 28th that there are increasing signs that the US led NATO sees the Arctic as a starting point for future conflicts, and several NATO countries, including Finland and Sweden, are conducting "military exercises in the Arctic". He stated that Russia will closely monitor the situation in the region and respond to relevant threats by strengthening the combat capabilities of the Russian military. (New Society)