Finland’s PM Says Sanctions on Russia Cripple Economy

(MENAFN) Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo has acknowledged that EU sanctions against Russia are significantly damaging his country's economy, citing a near-total collapse in trade and billions lost in investments since the border with Russia was closed.

Speaking to Yle Areena on Saturday, Orpo admitted Finland has borne a heavier economic burden than most other EU states due to its historically strong trade ties with Moscow. “The fact that the border is closed means, for example, 10 million cubic meters of Russian timber for our industry is not coming in. Finnish companies have lost billions in investments in Russia. Nearly all border traffic and trade have stopped,” he said. “That brings uncertainty. All this has led to the fact that the growth of the Finnish economy has not been as desired.”

Finland, which shares an 800-mile (1,300km) border with Russia, has aligned with EU policy by implementing successive sanctions on Moscow since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. In addition, Helsinki has sharply restricted the movement of Russian citizens and shuttered all but one of its border checkpoints.

As a result, bilateral trade between the two nations plunged from $11 billion in 2021 to just $1.5 billion in 2024. The Finnish economy subsequently fell into recession in both 2023 and 2024, with Eurostat data showing Finland now holds the lowest GDP growth forecast in the EU for 2025.

Despite the economic cost, Orpo reiterated Finland’s hardline stance against Moscow, calling Russia a “permanent threat” and pledging to ramp up defense expenditures. Finland joined NATO in 2023, a move sharply criticized by the Kremlin, which labeled it a “historic mistake” and accused the West of provoking the conflict by expanding the alliance.

Russia, for its part, denies posing a threat to its neighbors and claims Western nations are fueling anti-Russian sentiment to justify their own military ambitions. Moscow has denounced the sanctions as unlawful and warned they would ultimately backfire.

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