Russian President Vladimir Putin is "all in" on taking Ukraine, Finland's President Sauli Niinistö told CNN on Sunday.
"Tell us what you think Putin is going to do now," CNN's Fareed Zakaria said to the Finnish president. "You have met him so many times. He does appear to be cornered in some ways. He does appear to be becoming more reckless with these nuclear threats. Tell us what your analysis of his state of mind is."
"How I see is in acutally poker terms" Niinistö said. "He has put all in, and he is a fighter. So it is very difficult to see him accepting any kind of defeat. That surely makes the situation very crucial."
Recalling his conversation with Putin in February before the Russian invasion, Niinistö said, "If we go years back, we see — or at least I have seen — some kind of development in his thinking: He's frustrated because of the situation in Ukraine after 2014. And then, in a way, progressively, I have felt that his frustration is growing. And very obviously, he just decided to get this thing somehow solved, or at least try to solve it."
When asked if he thinks Putin will expand into other parts of Europe, the president of Finland, whose country borders Russia, said he hasn't seen any hostility at that border.
"I think that he has enough now headache in Ukraine, and it doesn't seem very obvious that he could make any maneuvers elsewhere — not now, and not in the nearby future."
Niinistö highlighted that while he is a fan of French President Emmanuel Macron's push for a diplomatic solution, he doesn't think one can be reached.
"Also, I have to admit that, at the moment, I don't see so very much possibilities to reach the peace."
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