Russian, Finnish presidents discuss security guarantees, Ukrainian crisis

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone talk with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto on Friday, according to the Kremlin.

The two leaders had "a thorough exchange of views on European security" regarding the recent talks between Russia on the one side and the US, NATO, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the other, the statement said.

"Vladimir Putin informed in detail about the fundamental Russian approaches, stressing that Moscow expects the written, concrete, and detailed reaction, promised by the negotiating partners, to the draft documents on the provision of legally binding guarantees for the security of the Russian Federation," it said.

Putin also stressed the importance of observing the principle of indivisibility of security, fixed in the basic documents of the OSCE, the statement added.

On the Ukrainian crisis, Putin and Niinisto confirmed their commitment to the necessity of the implementation of the Minsk Protocol to resolve the conflict.

"The Russian President noted that Kiev still stubbornly evades fulfilling its obligations under the Minsk agreements, which provide, in particular, for establishing a direct dialogue with Donetsk and Luhansk and the constitutional special status of Donbas," it said.

Longstanding tensions over Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 have been exacerbated by Russian-backed separatists in the eastern border region of Donbas, along with a Russian military buildup decried by the West.

The US, UN General Assembly, and Turkiye all view the Crimea annexation as illegal.

Amid the border buildup, Russia has accused Ukraine of provocations, a charge Kyiv denies.