Finnish telecoms gear maker Nokia has good prospects for sales in Europe and North America in the coming quarters, its chief executive said on Thursday after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. Rajeev Suri, who was promoted in April to become the group’s CEO, also told Reuters that Nokia was not too concerned that its business would be hit by potential sanctions against Russia due to the Ukraine crisis. “In Europe, we have significant deal momentum, that we think will play into new network deployment projects we expect to have in the second half (of the year),” he said in a telephone interview. “In North America, we are between projects at the moment in roll-out and expect it to accelerate in the coming quarters.” Asked about political tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East, Suri said that a globally operating company always has risks, but added that the company saw some impact from the crises in some Middle Eastern markets in the second quarter.