Finnish President Alexander Stubb made a surprise trip to Florida on Saturday to meet with US president Donald Trump. The two leaders discussed the strengthening of their country’s bilateral cooperation and played golf.

‘President Stubb and I are looking forward to reinforcing cooperation between United States and her FinlandAnd this includes the market and the development of a large number of icebreakers needed by the US, offering peace and international security for our countries and the world, “Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.

The two presidents met for breakfast, played golf and lunch together. They also discussed foreign policy issues, including Ukraine. Ukraine President Volodimir Zelenski met with Stubb in Helsinki last week.

The Finnish President’s office said in a statement that Stubb’s unexpected visit with Trump was informal. Trump arrived at his estate in Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on Friday afternoon, before heading to the golf club at West Palm Beach on Saturday morning for a golf tournament.

Senator Lindsay Graham joined Trump’s golf team, a post on X, in which he also praised Stubb’s golf skills.

Trump’s meeting with Stubb took place a day after Vice President Jay Di Vance visited Greenland without being invited.

Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Greenland. The Danish government opposes such a move as most Greenland residents.

Trump told NBC News in an interview on Saturday that “he would never exclude the military force” to achieve his goal, but said he believes there was “a good chance” without resorting to violence.

Asked what message would send Greenland to Russia and the rest of the world, Trump replied: “I don’t really think about it. I don’t really care. “

Finland is the largest producer of icebreakers in the world. About 80% of ships are designed by Finnish companies and about 60% of them have been built in Finnish yards.

In November, Canada, Finland and former US President Joe Biden signed the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort agreement to collaborate “to develop world -class Arctic and polar icebreakers through the exchange of knowledge and information”.

Prior to his visit, Stubb had said he hoped to play a golf with Trump and that icebreaker diplomacy could help Finland maintain good relations with the US and Trump.

Finland shares the longest borders of the European Union with Russia. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Helsinki turned to the foreign policy that has been pursued for decade, deciding to join NATO with Sweden.

Trump’s frequent criticism of NATO allies and its shift to normalizing Russia is forcing some European countries to boost their own defense spending, Reuters said.