Finnish president tells Coalition of the Willing leaders they must engage with US president as Putin envoy arrives on mission to Washington

Failure to engage with Donald Trump could leave him vulnerable to persuasion from Vladimir Putin, pictured with him at their Alaska summit in August, according to Alexander Stubb Credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Joe Barnes Brussels Correspondent

25 October 2025

The president of Finland has warned Europe to keep engaging with Donald Trump or risk Russia swaying him again, The Telegraph can disclose.

In what was described as a crucial intervention at a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, Alexander Stubb told Ukraine’s allies that the US president was currently satisfied with Europe’s role in his efforts to end the war.

Diplomatic sources said Mr Stubb, who is emerging as Mr Trump’s closest European ally, claimed that the Russians were circling around the US president and his entourage in the hope of convincing him to back Vladimir Putin’s plans to end the conflict in Ukraine.

On Saturday, Mr Trump said that he would not schedule any talks with Putin unless it was clear that the Russian leader was serious about making a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

“I’m going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal. I’m not going to be wasting my time,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed to Asia.

“I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing,” the US leader said. “I thought this would have gotten done before peace in the Middle East.”

Mr Stubb’s warning came as Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s US envoy, arrived in Washington on a hastily arranged visit to counter the White House’s new sanctions on Russian oil giants.

According to a European official, Mr Stubb told allies: “Trump’s entourage confirms that he is now satisfied with the impact of sanctions, Ukraine, and Europe.

“But beware: Steve Witkoff’s [the US special envoy] counterpart is currently moving around Washington. It is therefore still necessary to work on the entourage and the president himself.”

“Keep talking to them so that the enemy isn’t the only one,” a second source said, summing up Mr Stubb’s advice.

Ukraine and its European allies have invested time and effort in attempting to keep Mr Trump on their side amid fears he could one day side with Putin in the negotiations to end the war.

The Russian president has been attempting to urge his US counterpart to convince Kyiv to give up large swathes of land as the price for any ceasefire.

But European leaders in attendance at the Coalition meeting, hosted by Sir Keir Starmer on Friday afternoon, believe that Mr Trump is supportive of their plan to end the fighting on the current front lines before any negotiations over land swaps can happen.

The US president reportedly scrapped planned peace talks with Putin in Budapest after the Russian refused to compromise on his demand that Ukraine should cede its eastern Donetsk region prior to any talks.

This threw into doubt hopes that more than three years of fighting between Kyiv and Moscow would soon come to an end, with Europe shifting its focus to sustaining Ukraine’s defence.

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Sir Keir set out a five-point strategy for keeping Ukraine in the fight, by doing more to take Russian oil and gas off the international markets, use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defence, strengthen air defence support, and ramp up military pressure on Moscow.

It came as Rachel Reeves suggested that lobbying by the UK had been critical in persuading Mr Trump to sanction two major Russian oil firms.

The Chancellor said she had urged Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, to show a “united front” by following Britain’s lead in targeting Rosneft and Lukoil.

She also hinted that ministers will carry on pressing the White House to go further on sanctions rather than softening its stance in the face of Russian lobbying.

Writing for The Telegraph, she said: “President Trump’s sanctions, alongside UK action, will make it significantly harder for Russia to find buyers for this oil and will substantially undermine their ability to finance their illegal war.

“We need a united front from our global partners to continue to tighten the screws on Putin. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to lead the charge as we shift gears towards a more secure, more peaceful future.”

Ms Reeves said the UK was “exploring every lever we can pull to turn up the pressure” on the Kremlin, including using seized Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort.

A source told The Telegraph that the use of seized Russian Central Bank assets was the main topic of discussion between the Coalition.

They appeared to secure a breakthrough in European Union plans for a €140bn reparations loan to Kyiv.

Under the plan, Ukraine would receive money to buy weapons for the next three years and would only have to repay the debt once Russia agrees to compensation for its war.

If Moscow refuses to hand over money to Kyiv, the assets will remain frozen in Europe.

The scheme had been blocked by Belgium, which holds two-thirds of the frozen Russian assets worldwide, at a separate meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.

During the Coalition’s talks, Belgium remained silent when a deadline was set for the scheme to be finalised in December, a Western official said.

“The appeals for this appeared to work, and it prevailed that the reparations loan must be finalised in December. The Commission confirmed that it will submit legislative proposals,” they said.

A European diplomat said Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission’s president, had earlier this week communicated to EU leaders that the draft legal texts are almost ready to be presented.

But as the work by Europeans continues, Mr Dmitriev told CNN that Russia, Ukraine and the US were closing in on a diplomatic pact to end the war.

“It’s a big move by President Zelensky to already acknowledge that it’s about battle lines,” he said. “You know, his previous position was that Russia should leave completely – so actually, I think we are reasonably close to a diplomatic solution that can be worked out.”

Moscow’s forces currently occupy around 20 per cent of Ukraine’s territory, which will de facto fall under the Kremlin’s sphere of influence under any ceasefire.

Mr Zelensky insists he will not recognise any Russian control over Ukrainian land, but acknowledges his armed forces do not have the military means to liberate it.