Putin's disputed claims: Finland, Trump, and the icebreaker deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Finland is attempting to convince the USA to order nuclear-powered icebreakers, even though Finland itself doesn't have the capability to build them. President Alexander Stubb did not suggest to the USA the construction of nuclear-powered icebreakers in Finland—the Finnish president’s office refuted Putin’s claims.
The newspaper "Iltalehti" reported on Vladimir Putin’s speech about enticing the Americans with the prospects of building nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Can Finland even build a single nuclear icebreaker? - asked Putin at a meeting with business representatives at the Kremlin, which took place earlier this week.
The Russian leader referred to Stubb's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida, where the two presidents played together in a golf tournament at the end of March. At that time, the Finnish president mentioned that orders for icebreakers (which Finland is very much hopeful for) were a topic of discussion, and the USA’s interest in these specific ships stems from the fact that Russia currently has 48 icebreakers, while the USA doesn't have even one.
Finland, on the other hand, is the largest supplier of such ships. Finnish shipyards have designed 80% and built about 60% of all icebreakers worldwide.
Russia is the only country that builds and operates (primarily for navigation in the Arctic region) nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Value of the American order estimated at 2.5 billion euros (3.9 billion Canadian dollars)
U.S. President Trump announced at the beginning of his term that the USA could purchase around forty icebreakers, and Finland is hoping for a share of those orders. According to information from the newspaper "Helsingin Sanomat," the shipyard in Rauma (on the southwest coast by the Gulf of Bothnia) is negotiating with the U.S. Coast Guard to build at least several medium-sized icebreakers. The order's value is estimated at about 2.5 billion euros (3.9 billion Canadian dollars). However, these are not nuclear icebreakers, emphasized the newspaper, citing sources.
"HS" recalled that at the end of the 1980s, in one of the Finnish shipyards—on the order of the USSR—nuclear icebreaker hulls were constructed, but the reactor and propulsion systems were installed in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
In 2024, the USA, Canada, and Finland signed the ICE Pact (Icebreaker Collaboration Effort) agreement concerning the construction of icebreakers due to the increasing "importance of the Arctic region for economic, national, and climate security," and the growing interest and activity in the polar region, not only by Russia but also by China.
