The President of Finland: Russia longs for its former greatness
The primary problem that we face today is global security, this affects the Baltic Sea and many other regions. The tension is growing in the world and Russia is trying to take a more secure position (from its perspective) in such conditions, the President of Finland stated, as reported by Yle.
“At a basic level, Russia longs for its former greatness,” Sauli Niinistö added. Niinistö also commented on the statement of the President-elect of the United States regarding the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions. According to the President of Finland, no far-reaching conclusions should be drawn from Trump’s statements.
“I wouldn’t draw far-reaching conclusions from this statement. We should remember the initial reason for the imposition of sanctions. They weren’t imposed due to terrorism, but because of the Crimea and Ukraine. The assistance of the Russian Federation that Trump is talking about should be provided in relation to the Minsk Agreements,” Sauli Niinistö explained.
“Sanctions were imposed in two phases: the first part was imposed after the annexation of the Crimea and the second after events in eastern Ukraine. I believe that we should stick to this reasoning,” the President summarized.
On Friday, the President-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he is ready to lift anti-Russian sanctions in hopes of further cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism. However, Trump noted that the sanctions will remain in effect for at least a little longer.