During a telephone conversation with the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, and the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Herstør, the leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, instead of discussing the end of the war, spoke almost the entire time about the "historical root causes of the conflict" with Ukraine. Instead, the prospect of an immediate ceasefire - Ukraine's main demand to start the peace settlement process - was hardly discussed, sources told the FT.

During a telephone conversation with the President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, and the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Herstør, the leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin, instead of discussing the end of the war, spoke almost the entire time about the "historical root causes of the conflict" with Ukraine. Instead, the prospect of an immediate ceasefire - Ukraine's main demand to start the peace settlement process - was hardly discussed, sources told the FT.