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On Thursday morning, Helsingin Sanomat asked: "What is Finnish President Alexander Stubb's role in ongoing efforts to reach peace in Ukraine?" Stubb has found himself at the centre of international diplomacy, according to the paper. It cited recent news of a European proposal for a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine, saying that a number of media outlets attributed the plan's origins to Finland. However, HS said Stubb would not confirm the extent of Finland's influence in the matter. The reasoning, the paper wrote, is that it wouldn't be worthwhile for a small country to take credit for a strategy if it ends up hampering the ultimate goal. Stubb explained that the origins of the peace plan stemmed from a discussion between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in mid-October. That was followed by a visit to the White House by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. That evening, Stubb said, Ukraine's European supporters reached out to Zelensky to hash out the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine. "The discussion raised the question of whether we should use the 20-point ceasefire plan recently used in Gaza as its basis," Stubb explained. "We've been working on it with our allies in different forms and configurations," he said. The president emphasised that no decisions have been made regarding a peace plan. However, Stubb refused to take credit that Finland initiated the floated 12-point plan. "Finland is, so to speak, trying to influence things from the sidelines. The big boys decide, and we try to contribute at different stages," Stubb told the paper. Stubb spoke to the paper on Wednesday from Kazakhstan, amid an official visit to Central Asia. Continuing a visit to the region, Stubb and a Finnish business delegation are set to visit Uzbekistan on Thursday. Xi praises Finland on anniversary Chinese President Xi Jinping "did not hold back on his words of praise" for Finland as he noted the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Finland, according to Ilta-Sanomat. The Chinese foreign ministry published a statement about the matter, in which Xi praised the Nordic country as the beautiful "land of a thousand lakes". The Chinese president noted that Finland was among the first European countries to ink a trade deal with China. "In October last year, President Alexander Stubb paid a successful state visit to China. The two presidents jointly drew up a blueprint for the growth of the future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership between China and Finland," China's statement read. "Xi Jinping said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Finland relations and is ready to work with President Alexander Stubb to inherit and carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries, lead China-Finland cooperation in various fields to break new ground, and jointly advance an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation," the statement continued. The ministry's statement also cited Stubb saying that "Finland-China relations are close and have a solid foundation". "[Stubb] said he looks forward to continuing dialogue with President Xi Jinping on bilateral and global issues," the statement concluded. Halloween candy controversy As Halloween arrives on Friday, newspaper Iltalehti reported about online disputes over what flavour Fazer's black and orange-coloured 'Halloween balls' actually are. For some time now, there seems to be an increasing number of Halloween-themed products being marketed in Finland around this time of year, and confectionery giant Fazer is no exception. The labelling on their black and orange 'marmalade' ball packaging says they are 'orange-cola' flavoured. Perusal of social media chatter found one person preferring the orange ones while commenters to the post said they think the black ones taste better. However, someone boldly suggested that the orange and black sweets were all the same flavour, according to the paper. That motivated the original poster to carry out a blind taste test — after declaring "I feel so cheated". The experiment found the taster thinking that all the candies were 'black' flavoured — but half of them were actually orange. Fazer's communications chief Leena Eerola confirmed to the paper that the Halloween balls were orange and cola flavoured, despite their individual colour. She noted that the human mind can play tricks when it comes to colours and flavours. "A similar phenomenon has been observed with [the company's] American pastilles," Eerola explained, referring to what could be likened to as larger, flatter M&Ms. Some customers think those multicoloured candy-shelled chocolates have different flavours, "even though they all taste the same". "People always choose orange as the best flavour," Eerola told Ilta-Sanomat.
