Polish and Finnish presidents call for tougher sanctions on Russia

By Jo Harper​​​​​​​

WARSAW (AA) - The Polish and Finnish presidents on Tuesday called for new and tougher sanctions on Russia, which continues its war on Ukraine despite US-led efforts for a peace deal. Karol Nawrocki and Alexander Stubb addressed a joint press conference in Helsinki.

"Further packages of sanctions are necessary," Nawrocki told reporters. "I support new sanctions, as well as secondary sanctions," he added, referring to measures against countries helping Russia circumvent existing sanctions.

EU and US officials are discussing the first coordinated transatlantic sanctions against Russia since US President Donald Trump was reelected this year. Trump said this week he was ready to move to a second stage of sanctions.

The western allies have sanctioned about 2,500 people and entities, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, freezing about $335 billion of Russian central bank assets, among other things. The EU has banned most Russian oil imports, excluding to Hungary and Slovakia.

"We don't trust Putin's intentions, and that's why we're developing our armed forces, our partnership, and our allied relations," said Nawrocki.

"Our shared history, that of Finland and Poland, shows that both Poles and Finns are intimately familiar with the Russian soul and Vladimir Putin. We discussed this. Both I and the president obviously don't trust Putin's good intentions," said Nawrocki. "We are deeply convinced that Putin is ready to attack more countries," he added.

"That's why we're developing our armed forces, our partnership, and our allied relations, and building the responsibility of our states in the face of the changing security architecture in Central Europe, Northern Europe, the Nordic countries, and the Baltic states," Nawrocki went on, recalling that Finland has the longest border with Russia, at 1,300 kilometers (800 miles).

Nawrocki said he could not speak for the American people, but in his opinion, further sanctions packages were necessary, stressing that the current sanctions were affecting the Russian economy.

"Europe and the US are now coordinating their sanctions policy towards Russia, and I think that's good news," he added.

Stubb called on the EU to cut off Russian oil and gas purchases and use frozen Russian assets, Poland's PAP news agency reported. ”Some countries still indirectly finance Russia’s war machine,” he said. “Europe and the US are currently coordinating their sanctions policy toward Russia, and I think that’s good news,” Stubb said, adding that Finland plans to increase cooperation with Poland on defense and security. "A possible peace or suspension of hostilities in Ukraine does not mean we can lose vigilance,” Stubb said.

Stubb said it was "an honor and a privilege that Nawrocki has chosen Finland as one of his first travel destinations after taking office as president."

Finland formally joined NATO, becoming the Western military alliance’s 31st member in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, in April 2023.