US should impose sanctions on Russia, Finland's Valtonen says

By Anne Kauranen
By Anne Kauranen
Aug 8, 2025
FILE PHOTO: Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen attends a press conference during the Helsinki+50 OSCE conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 31, 2025. The conference marks the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. Lehtikuva/Mikko Stig/via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen attends a press conference during the Helsinki+50 OSCE conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 31, 2025. The conference marks the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act. Lehtikuva/Mikko Stig/via REUTERS/File Photo — Mikko Stig

By Anne Kauranen

HELSINKI (Reuters) -Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said on Friday she hoped U.S. President Donald Trump will move forward with imposing sanctions on Russia as it would help bring an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

"I certainly hope that President Trump will move forward with those sanctions," Valtonen said in a Reuters NEXT Newsmaker interview.

"What we do see - and suspect now as well - is that the reason that Russia has again shown some willingness to talk, is that the increased arms deliveries (to Ukraine) are definitely piling up the pressure on Russia to find a way out of the war."

Finland, its fellow Nordic countries and the Baltics, have been among the staunchest supporters of Ukraine.

The 2022 invasion prompted Finland, which shares a 1,340-km (833 mile) border with Russia, to join NATO two years ago, upending decades of non-alignment.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen; additional reporting by Essi Lehto; writing by Gwladys Fouche; editing by Terje Solsvik)