US should impose more sanctions on Russia, Finland says

8/8/2025 18:38

U.S. President Donald Trump should move forward with imposing more sanctions on Russia as it would help bring an end to the war in Ukraine, Finland's foreign minister said on Friday in a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker interview.



Trump set Friday as the deadline by which Russia had to agree to peace in Ukraine or have its oil customers face secondary tariffs. If imposed, they would sever a major source of funding for Russian President Vladimir Putin's war effort.



However, Putin and Trump are now expected to meet as early as next week following talks between the Russian leader and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, raising the possibility that the new sanctions may be delayed or cancelled.



A White House official said on Wednesday the secondary sanctions were still expected to be implemented against countries doing business with Russia from Friday despite the latest diplomatic flurry.



"I certainly hope that President Trump will move forward with those sanctions," Elina Valtonen said in the interview, referring to the secondary sanctions that could especially impact China and India, the biggest purchasers of Russian oil.