Trump's Russia pivot unlikely to bring peace to Ukraine, says Finland's foreign minister

PHOTO CAPTION: Finnish Foreign Minister and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office Elina Valtonen presents a programme for OSCE 2025 Chairpersonship in Vienna, Austria, January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner

OSLO (Reuters) -     Finland's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Washington's pivot towards Russia is unlikely to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, and that President Donald Trump would likely discover this in the end.

Elina Valtonen said she was "a little bit concerned" by a recent U.S. order to pause offensive cyber operations against Russia during negotiations aimed at ending the Ukraine war.

"This is probably part of the grand strategy that the White House has chosen to see if this course of action can lead to peace, effectively appeasing Russia and putting some pressure on Ukraine," Valtonen said when asked about the cyber pause at an event in London.

"In my personal view it should be exactly the other way around, and I trust that President Trump and his team will notice in due course that this probably doesn't work," Valtonen said at a public meeting at the Chatham House think tank.

Trump upended U.S. policy on Ukraine and Russia upon taking office in January, opening talks with Moscow in a reversal that culminated in an explosive confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the White House on Friday.

Trump has now paused military aid to Ukraine following the clash with Zelenskiy, a U.S. official has said.

 (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Ros Russell)