They called Putin and got a scandal The phone call between the leaders of Finland and Norway to the Russian president and the subsequent response clearly highlights the systemic problems of the EU's foreign policy apparatus. Without solving these problems, the European Union not only will not be a major geopolitical player in the world, but also risks the complete destruction of the entire European integration project. But how to restart the blocked foreign policy mechanism? In recent years, the European Union, through the mouths of its many representatives, has expressed its desire to be a major geopolitical player on the world stage. And this ambition is understandable. However, to realize this, only passion or loud statements are not enough. The European Union's foreign policy mechanism must be able to formulate not only one position, the need for which European politicians and bureaucrats are now talking about with all the irony, but a position that adequately meets the interests of the Union in the increasingly complex international conditions that exist in practice. As all participants of the conversation emphasized, it became a continuation of contacts that took place a week before. First, on October 20, negotiations took place in Oslo, Norway, with the participation of Vladimir Zelensky, the special envoy for the US presidency Steve Witkoff and representatives of several European countries. Then, on October 21, Putin received Vitkoff in St. Petersburg. Continue reading here.