Finland's foreign minister told Newsmax that Europe is moving decisively to end its reliance on Russian oil and gas, voicing agreement with President Donald Trump's call for the continent to sever energy ties with Moscow as the war in Ukraine grinds on.
Appearing on "National Report" on Wednesday, Elina Valtonen reacted to Trump's Monday speech at the U.N. General Assembly where he blasted Europe's continued Russian energy imports as "embarrassing."
"I fully agree with President Trump again," Valtonen said. "Finland has zero energy imports from Russia. And the European Union has reduced their imports by 90%, which is quite substantial over the course of the past 3 1/2 years when the full-scale invasion has been going on."
While noting that "only a couple of countries" still import Russian energy in significant quantities, Valtonen, highlighted the EU's formal decision — based on a European Commission proposal — to completely phase out Russian energy by 2027.
"This is exactly the right track," she said.
Valtonen also pointed to the European Union's 19th sanctions package, adopted just last week, as evidence of Europe's resolve to pressure the Kremlin economically.
"It's extremely important that we are loud and clear about the sanctions, that they actually do work," she said. "Nobody ever claimed that they work overnight, that they put the Russian economy to collapse just like the Soviet Union back in the day. … but we just have to be patient and at the same time increase the sanctions pressure."
Russia's economy, she noted, is already feeling the strain.
"They only can borrow domestically because nobody from the outside is lending to Russia. So essentially, the companies and businesses can't survive with interest rates of over 20% for the long term."
Valtonen said Finland itself is secure, thanks to decades of investment in defense and, more recently, NATO membership.
"We have very good plans on how to both deter and also defend if there was anything coming out of Russia," she said.
Yet she warned that Russia remains a long-term threat to the Euro-Atlantic alliance, citing its aggression toward Ukraine and "other members of the European Union and NATO."
Valtonen praised progress in European defense spending and procurement, crediting Washington and Trump for encouraging a stronger military posture.
"With the help of President Trump from the United States, Europe now finally is ramping up in defense procurement and defense investment," Valtonen said.
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