Alexander Stubb, President of Finland, has said that he and Norway’s prime minister held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Ukraine’s request to pave the way for dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow.
Stubb told the Finnish public broadcaster Yle that the purpose of the call was to establish a channel of communication between Ukraine and Russia, adding that other European countries were also informed about the content of the conversation.
He described a Financial Times report that Slavic history had been discussed during the call as inaccurate.
Stubb stressed that Finland was not acting as a mediator and would continue to support Ukraine.
Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke with Putin on October 27.
The two sides exchanged views on efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis and welcomed an agreement to resume trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.
