Finnish President cancels US visit, heads to Berlin for Ukraine talks

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has changed his travel plans amid the critical situation in Ukraine and will travel to Berlin on December 15 to take part in talks focused on a possible ceasefire, foreign media report.

Stubb had initially planned to visit the US state of Texas, but the trip was cancelled in favour of participating in high-level discussions in Germany on efforts to halt the war in Ukraine.

The Berlin meeting will centre on negotiations over a potential ceasefire. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has invited US representatives to join the talks.

The meeting follows a phone conversation between Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump, during which the leaders sought to overcome differences over the direction of peace efforts.

The White House has prepared a draft peace agreement intended to serve as a basis for ending the war. The initial version of the document contained 28 points but was partially revised following criticism from Kyiv and its European partners and now includes around 20 points.