Finnish President Alexander Stubb stated on Tuesday that the phone call he had with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Russian President Vladimir Putin was not intended as a peace mediation. Instead, the discussion was meant to communicate Ukraine’s message to the Russian leader, according to EFE reports.
“We are not peace mediators; we are working 100% for Ukraine. We would never have held this phone call without Ukraine’s consent,” Stubb said during a press conference shortly after the conversation with Putin.
He highlighted that both he and Store are acting in favor of Ukraine’s interests, as well as those of Finland and Norway, the only two Nordic countries sharing a direct border with Russia.
According to Stubb, the two Nordic leaders had prepared for the one-and-a-half-hour phone call with Putin in conjunction with representatives from Ukraine and the United States.
The idea to contact Putin emerged on October 20 in Oslo during a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, who considered it a good initiative to speak directly with the Russian president, Stubb indicated.
Stubb and Store proposed the conversation with Putin even without a European mandate, as both felt strongly that peace talks were not progressing.
On the same day, during his address at the Nordic Council summit in Helsinki, Stubb mentioned that following last week’s meeting in Oslo, “the way has now opened” for resuming trilateral contacts with Russia, mediated by the U.S. in Abu Dhabi next month, where European representatives are expected to participate.
Regarding the conversation with Putin, he described it as “professional and direct.” Furthermore, Stubb dismissed accusations that he acted unilaterally without informing other European leaders, asserting that prior to the call, his government communicated its intentions to key allies, including all Nordic countries.
