Finnish president agrees with his Estonian counterpart that Europe will eventually have to talk to Russia

Finnish President Alexander Stubb agrees with his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis that Europe will need to resume direct dialogue with Moscow at some point in the future.

Source: Estonian public broadcaster ERR, as reported by European Pravda

Details: At a joint press conference in Helsinki, the presidents of Finland and Estonia were asked to comment on Karis's recent statements about the possible restoration of dialogue with Russia.

Quote from Stubb: "This is an issue we have faced since the beginning of the war, but probably even more seriously over the past two years.

Yes, within the Coalition of the Willing and elsewhere there have been discussions about who, when, where and how should begin talking to Russia. At the moment, we have delegated this role to the United States, and because of the war with Iran this conversation is now in a lull. So I fully agree with President Karis that the time will come when we must open channels of communication with Russia. But the question is when – before the war ends or after it? An even bigger question is who will do this and with what mandate.

In my view, this should be done collectively and with a mandate. In other words, no one in Europe should start this independently. We have already seen such attempts, and they usually do not work."

Details: Stubb added that regardless of future developments in Russia, it has been, is and will remain a neighbour of Finland and Estonia. He stressed that relations with Russia cannot return to what they were before Moscow's acts of aggression.

"These will be different relations. But there will be some kind of relations, because neighbours need them," he concluded.

Background:

• Karis earlier said that European countries should already be planning their actions for the period after the end of Russia's war against Ukraine and their model of engagement with Russia, since this could happen quickly and unexpectedly. Some politicians in Estonia criticised him for these remarks.
• Karis also expressed the view that Europe made a mistake by missing the opportunity to begin peace negotiations with Russia at the start of the full-scale war, after Ukraine's first key success in repelling the advance on Kyiv.

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