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Senior Russian diplomat explains EU’s strong reaction to Stubb, Store’s call to Moscow

The EU policies are aimed at "protracting the conflict in Ukraine as long as possible," while this step "does not fit into this logic," Alexander Grushko said

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has explained why the phone call by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store to Moscow was met with such a strong reaction in the European Union.

"The European Union’s policies are geared towards protracting the conflict in Ukraine as long as possible and thwarting any prospect for a peaceful settlement. Stubb and Store’s phone call to Moscow does not fit into this logic. This is exactly why this step by the leaders of Norway and Finland has provoked such a strong reaction within the European Union," he told the Vedomosti daily.

On October 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Stubb and Store at the request of the Finnish and Norwegian sides. The leaders discussed the Ukrainian crisis, security in the Baltic region and Northern Europe. The sides welcomed the agreement to resume trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.

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