Last month, Trump placed new sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies — Rosneft and Lukoil — a move the Finnish president applauded.
Stubb said the U.S. is right to move ahead with the bill given Putin’s unwillingness to embrace a ceasefire. “The only person Putin listens to is an oligarch,” Finland’s leader said. “In that sense, if the oligarchs come to the conclusion in Russia that economically this is too complicated, then things might start to happen.”
Asked if Europe should try to engage directly with Putin as proposed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Stubb said: “Whenever that moment [for direct talks] comes, which it will at some stage … it’ll have to be coordinated.”
For now, Stubb said he was happy with Washington’s taking a leading role. “If we can contribute … if we can mediate, if we can have conversations with the Ukrainians, with the Americans, with the Europeans, I think that’s good enough,” he said, adding that a just and lasting peace is more important that Europe getting a photo op.
Ceasefire ‘not in the cards’
On the prospect of a ceasefire in Ukraine, Stubb was downbeat, noting he had pressed for a ceasefire deadline around Easter, ahead of the Aug. 15 Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska, and again ahead of the upcoming Nov. 22-23 G20 gathering in Johannesburg.
“Failing all this and reading the room right now, having had conversations with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy on Friday, with my American friends and European friends over the past few weeks, I just don’t see that [a ceasefire] in the cards,” he added.