Finnish president says he discussed limiting military operations in Ukraine, food security with Putin
The issues of limiting military operations in Ukraine-in particular, strikes on energy facilities-as well as food security were discussed during a phone call between Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Støre, which took place on Tuesday morning and lasted about an hour and a half, according to a report on the website of Finland's national broadcaster Yle.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb discussed limiting military operations in Ukraine and addressing food security during a phone call with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Støre on Tuesday morning. The conversation, which lasted about an hour and a half, was coordinated with Ukraine and the United States. Stubb conveyed direct messages from Ukraine to President Vladimir Putin.
Finland had not discussed Ukraine-related matters without general approval, and the impetus for the call was a meeting in Oslo a week prior. Stubb noted that peace talks had reached an impasse but managed to improve relations between the United States and Ukraine. During the call with Putin, Finland and Norway aimed to facilitate progress in negotiations to end the war.
They discussed potential measures such as an energy truce and a cessation of attacks on infrastructure facilities between Ukraine and Russia, along with food security and prisoner exchanges. Stubb emphasized that a willingness to continue negotiations was expressed, but no agreements were reached on the timeline or process. Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov stated that Stubb and Støre informed Putin of Ukraine's leader's active interest in direct negotiations, but Putin insisted on holding them only on Russian territory.
Ushakov added that the leaders of Ukraine and Russia would likely only be ready to sign a long-term settlement document after the negotiation process concludes. Zelenskyy thanked Stubb and Støre for their support in Finland and Norway's joint peace efforts with all partners, and mentioned discussions about concrete de-escalation measures concerning Ukraine's energy sector and infrastructure during the conversation with Putin.
Written by urgent.news from Interfax-Ukraine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
