Finnish President Alexander Stubb believes that European countries will inevitably have to start a direct dialogue with Russia at a certain stage of the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, TASS reports, Focus reports.
“When that moment for direct negotiations comes - and it will happen at a certain stage - there will need to be coordination“, Stubb said in an interview with Politico. He stressed that he is currently satisfied with the US leadership in the process, and in his opinion, Washington should impose a new package of sanctions against Moscow and increase pressure on Russia.
“The next step should be sanctions - the sanctions package in the Senate“, the Finnish head of state said. Stubb added that in the current situation, a ceasefire in Ukraine does not seem possible. "After my conversations with Zelensky on November 14, as well as with my American and European partners in recent weeks, I see no prospect of a truce anytime soon," he said.
Reuters earlier reported, citing a White House official, that US President Donald Trump was ready to sign a bill to tighten sanctions on Russia, provided that his administration gets the final say on how the measures will be implemented. The bill, introduced in April by a bipartisan group of senators including Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, provides for secondary sanctions against Russia's trading partners and the introduction of a 500% tariff on imports into the US from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other resources.