Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to hold a telephone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov made the announcement on Friday, according to Ukrainian publication UA News.
“Putin is open to a telephone conversation, but Zelenskyy has not called him yet,” the spokesperson said.
The Russian official provided no further details about when such a conversation might take place or what preconditions could make it possible, the publication noted.
Peskov also said that the Russian leader’s willingness to engage in telephone dialogue applies to potential conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
UA News noted that the Kremlin’s statement came after Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a telephone conversation with Putin.
The initiative by the two Nordic leaders was criticised by some European Union officials, Antena3CNN reported.
According to the British newspaper Financial Times (FT), Putin used his recent telephone conversation with the Finnish and Norwegian leaders on October 27 to deliver a lengthy lecture on medieval Slavic history. The Russian president reportedly also emphasised the difficulties Europe would face in trying to impose its position during future peace negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
The telephone conversation between Putin, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was the first discussion the Kremlin leader had held with a European leader about Ukraine since July last year, when he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Rather than discussing potential ways to end the war in Ukraine, Putin reportedly gave the Nordic leaders an extensive account of what the Kremlin describes as the “original causes of the conflict”. Three people familiar with the conversation told the FT anonymously that Stubb and Støre did not interrupt Putin, seeking instead to understand how willing he was to engage in dialogue with Europe.
A spokesperson for the Finnish government confirmed that Helsinki had asked the British newspaper to correct its article. The Financial Times refused to make any changes, saying it was “convinced of the accuracy of its reporting”.
A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters that, during the conversation with the European leaders, Putin reiterated his unchanged position, which calls for Ukraine to surrender the entire Donbas region — territory that Russian forces have still not fully captured after nearly five years of war.
In its public account of the conversation, the Kremlin said Putin had accused NATO and EU countries of pursuing a “policy of prolonging” the war.
Putin’s adviser, Yuri Ushakov, later said that if Stubb and Støre wanted to call the Russian president again, he “would always answer”.