OMM Newsroom
“Russia considers the trilateral format of talks with the United States and Ukraine sufficient and views Washington’s mediation as useful.”
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said this, TASS reported, according to Operative Information Center-OMM.
“Russia supports continuing talks in the previous format, with representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United States. In this respect, US mediation is useful,” Ushakov said.
Moscow is not planning new contacts with European leaders, but is not ruling out such talks, he said.
“No further talks are planned for now. But we are not refusing contacts,” he said.
Ushakov added that Russia had not expected Europe to react with displeasure to phone calls between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. He said the contacts were believed to have been coordinated with the “European troika.”
“There is disagreement on this issue. Even Finland and Norway’s neighbors are objecting,” Ushakov said.
The presidential aide said Putin always answers his interlocutors’ questions politely and in detail during international phone calls.
“Whenever he has the opportunity and the time, Putin always picks up the phone to answer all the questions put to him politely and in detail,” he added.
On Oct. 27, Putin, Stubb and Støre discussed the war in Ukraine and possible ways to end it during a phone call.
