Stubb: Time to talk to Russia

President of the Republic Alexander Stubb the Russian president opened the door to European dialogue Vladimir Putin with when he stated to the Italian Corriere della Sera – lehdellethat “it’s time to start talking with Russia”.

The president of Ukraine, among others, has already spoken in favor of opening the negotiation link Volodymyr Zelenskyi and President of the European Council Antonio Costain order to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Stubb confirmed to the Italian newspaper that there are currently discussions among European leaders about who should ultimately contact the Kremlin.

High representative of the EU’s foreign and security policy Kaja Kalla rejected Putin’s proposal on Monday, according to which the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder could represent European countries in peace negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

Kallas described Schröder as “a high-level lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies” who “would sit on both sides of the table”.

Foreign minister Elina Valtonen (kok) estimated on Monday in Brussels that Putin might start to have a real desire for peace negotiations. Valtonen commented on the issue to the Finnish media after the EU foreign ministers’ meeting held in Brussels.

Valtonen said that so far there has been no sign from Russia that they are genuinely negotiating for peace, but they have been playing for time.

“Now it clearly feels like Russia is also starting to feel more pressure, because the economic situation is weak and the cards are not in as good a position politically as they were just a few months ago,” Valtonen said.

According to Valtonen, at this stage it is secondary who the EU negotiator would be, because the primary thing is to seek trust between the parties.

The matter was fixed at 22:54. Corrected the title and introduction of the story, which previously read incorrectly that, along with Stubb, Valtonen also says now is the time to talk with Russia.