Stubb: Passed two messages from Zelensky to Putin

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in an interview with the Finnish public broadcaster Yle that during a 27 October phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin he passed on two messages from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They covered Ukraine's readiness to meet Russia at leader level and the de-escalation steps proposed by Kyiv, which could ease the effects of the war and open the way for peace talks.

Two messages

According to Stubb, at Zelensky's request Putin was told that the Ukrainian president would like a bilateral conversation with the Russian leader to discuss, among other things, territorial issues and security. The second message concerned de-escalation: the aim is to reach a degree of truce in key areas such as energy and energy facilities, food security, prisoner exchanges or infrastructure in general.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also took part in the call. The two were able to ask how Russia plans to act at the upcoming trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi. Stubb called that part of the conversation very useful.

Assessment and next steps

Asked whether the call had brought peace closer, Stubb said it was rather a confidence-building step and that no step backward had been taken. On restoring contacts and relations with Russia, he said they would proceed calmly, step by step, but that relations like those that once existed between Russia and Finland will be completely different in future.

Finland and Norway also told Putin they do not approve of the activity of Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Baltic Sea. Stubb denied media reports that Putin had lectured the European leaders about history during the call.

Background

Stubb and Støre phoned Putin on 27 October on their own initiative; Stubb described the discussion as frank and businesslike. Zelensky said at the time that the two leaders had clearly told Putin that real de-escalation steps were needed regarding Ukrainian energy and infrastructure, and that after the call there was a sense Russia was serious about a meeting of negotiating teams in Abu Dhabi.