Finnish President Sauli Niiniste doubts that European sanctions will lead to a collapse of the Russian economy. He said this in a speech at the opening of the annual forum of the Yalta European Strategy (YES), September 13.
“There were voices saying that after the sanctions, the Russian economy will collapse, and they will have to retreat, but this did not happen, and I doubt that this will happen in the future… If we think only in terms of “black” and “white” then we are doomed to failure,” – Niiniste said.
The Finnish president cited the recent exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine as an example of dialogue with Russia.
“We need the achievements of small things in order to base large ones on them,” – he explained.
Before this, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky in his speech said that he would insist on the preservation of sanctions against Russia by Western countries.
On the eve of the European Union extended individual sanctions against Russia for six months – until March 15, 2020.