Finland refutes Putin's claims on US icebreaker deal
The Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin, claimed that Finland is attempting to persuade the USA to commission nuclear-powered icebreakers, despite Finland lacking the capability to construct them. President Alexander Stubb did not propose that the USA builds nuclear-powered icebreakers in Finland, refuted the Finnish president’s office in response to Putin's claims.
The newspaper "Iltalehti" reported on Vladimir Putin's remarks about enticing the Americans with prospects of constructing nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Can Finland even build a single nuclear icebreaker? asked Putin at a meeting with business representatives at the Kremlin, which occurred at the beginning of the week.
The Russian leader referred to a meeting between Stubb and US President Donald Trump in Florida, where both presidents participated in a golf tournament together at the end of March. At that time, the Finnish president stated that orders for icebreakers (which Finland is very hopeful about) were a topic of the discussions, and the USA’s interest in these particular ships arises from the fact that Russia currently has 48 icebreakers, while the USA does not have a single one.
Finland, on the other hand, is the largest supplier of this type of ship. Finnish shipyards have designed 80% and built approximately 60% of all the icebreakers in the world.
Russia is the only country that constructs and operates (primarily for navigation in the Arctic region) nuclear-powered icebreakers.
The value of the American order estimated at 2.5 billion euros
At the start of his term, US President Trump announced that the USA might purchase around forty icebreakers, and Finland is hoping for a share of the order pool. 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 US Coast Guard to build at least a few medium-sized icebreakers. The order's value is estimated to be around 2.5 billion euros. However, these are not nuclear icebreakers - highlighted the newspaper, citing sources.
"HS" reminded readers that at the end of the 1980s, in one of the Finnish shipyards - on the order of the USSR - hulls for nuclear-powered icebreakers were built, but the reactor and propulsion mechanisms were installed in what was then Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
In 2024, the USA, Canada, and Finland signed the ICE Pact (Icebreaker Collaboration Effort) concerning the construction of icebreakers due to the increasing "importance of the Arctic region for economic, national, and climate security", and in practical terms, due to the heightened interest and activity in the polar region not only by Russia but also by China.
