Russia defines the telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin, the President of Finland Alexander Stubb and the Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre as important. This was stated by the Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov to “Channel One“.
“This is an important conversation. It is always better to present positions to each other from the original source. Norway and Finland are our neighbors, border countries. And it is very important for us that these countries decided to enter into a dialogue“, said Peskov.
He commented on the conversation between Putin, Stubb and Støre, which was initiated by Oslo and Helsinki. The two northern countries are members of NATO and share a border with Russia, and their contacts with Moscow have been limited since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The conversation is part of diplomatic contacts
The Kremlin put the phone call in the context of efforts to resume diplomatic dialogue over the war in Ukraine. Peskov contrasted the approach of Norway and Finland with that of US President Donald Trump, who is in contact with Putin and trying to broker a peace agreement.
So far, these efforts have not led to a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Last week, Jonas Gar Støre and Alexander Stubb met in Oslo with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The meeting took place a day before Witkoff spoke with Putin in St. Petersburg.
Peskov did not announce a specific outcome of the phone call, nor did he indicate whether any further steps had been agreed. His statement made it clear that Moscow views the very resumption of direct contact with Norway and Finland as an important political signal.
Sources: news.bg