Finnish president says Russia-Ukraine peace deal closer than any point during the war

Key Highlights

• diplomacy and pressure from sanctions on Russian oil as talks enter what he described as their most difficult final stage.
• "We’re probably closer [to reaching a peace agreement] than we have been at any time of this war," Stubb said on The Sunday Briefing."He added that President Donald Trump’s special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, have spent the past several weeks "working around the clock" to narrow differences between the two sides.
• The President of Finland, Alexander Stubb (L), and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy (R), shake hands on September 11, 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
• (Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via ) Stubb pointed to unity among Western allies following talks last weekend in Berlin, citing two key takeaways.
• "One was that Europe, Ukraine and the United States were united in our resolve to get a just and lasting peace...