00:00Now let's bring in our Moscow bureau chief, Yuri Resheto, who is reporting from the Latvian
00:04capital, Riga, as DW has been banned in Russia.
00:08Now what's the Russian side saying about how the call came about and what was discussed?
00:16Well, Gerhard, the Kremlin is keen to stress that this wasn't Moscow picking up the phone.
00:21Instead, the call was initiated by Finnish President Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister
00:26Störe.
00:26As for the substance, according to the Kremlin, Putin once again talked about what he calls
00:33the root causes of the war, of the conflict.
00:36That may sound like standard diplomatic language, but in reality it means Putin was once again
00:43pushing the same arguments we've heard for years from him.
00:47He was essentially defending the war.
00:48He started repeating the claim that Eastern Ukraine, particularly the Donbas, is somehow
00:53historically Russian territory and arguing that NATO's eastward expansion poses a threat
00:58to Russia.
00:58So, there was nothing fundamentally new here.
01:02And if Putin wanted to send one clear message, it's this, Ukrainian membership in NATO remains
01:08a complete red line for Moscow.
01:11Do you see this as a significant diplomatic push that will maybe have legs, or is it a one-off?
01:22Well, I think the Kremlin's statement after the call at Gerhard was actually still very hardline.
01:27Moscow accused the EU and NATO of prolonging the war, which doesn't exactly sound like a
01:34site preparing major concessions or signaling a breakthrough.
01:37But having said that, there was one line at the very end of the Kremlin statement that stands out.
01:45Moscow said these direct phone conversations should continue.
01:50That, as I said, stands out because it comes just days after Putin's foreign policy advisor
01:56Ushakov suggested on Russian television that Moscow may need to engage more actively with Europeans
02:03after becoming frustrated with the lack of progress through Americans.
02:07So, while this is certainly not a diplomatic breakthrough, it may be more than a one-off phone call.
02:14What we are perhaps seeing is the early stage of Moscow testing a different channel,
02:18one that involves Europeans more directly in the conversation,
02:22in particular those two European politicians stop and stir them.
02:25That's an interesting thought, testing a new challenge.
02:29But we've heard how controversial these bi- or trilateral calls are among other European leaders.
02:37May that be part of the Kremlin's calculation?
02:44Well, I think that brings us to the political fallout inside Europe itself.
02:49I wouldn't say the Kremlin specifically set out to create tensions between the Nordic countries.
02:56In fact, Stubb and Störe were criticized primarily by some of the closest neighbors,
03:01including the leaders of Denmark and Sweden, you said it.
03:05After all, this call was initiated by the Europeans themselves, not by Moscow.
03:10And it's not unprecedented.
03:13We've seen direct contacts before from Emmanuel Macron's French president's conversation with Putin
03:19to more recent meetings between the German foreign minister Vadeful and Russian foreign minister Lavrov
03:25in New York just a few months ago.
03:27The bigger point, though, is what Russia gains from the reaction.
03:32Most analysts agree that one of Moscow's long-term strategic goals is to weaken European unity.
03:38So, while this phone call may not have been designed specifically to create frictions inside the EU,
03:46the political arguments and controversy that followed will certainly be welcomed in the Kremlin.
03:54Talking about what follows, is there any concrete sign that there will be further calls or follow-up conversations?
04:04Yeah, if you zoom out, the bigger picture is that diplomatic activity appears to be picking up again
04:11on several fronts at the same time. Russia has reportedly agreed to a new trilateral format
04:17involving Ukraine, the United States, and Russia after November 4th, after midterms in the United States.
04:23At the same time, discussions are underway about a separate Russia-US-China summit in a few weeks.
04:31Now, we should be careful, Gerhard, not to overstate this.
04:34We still don't know how far any of these initiatives will go.
04:38And more importantly, we are not talking about a Putin-Zelensky summit.
04:41So, at least not yet.
04:43What is being discussed is another round of negotiations at the level of officials and negotiators.
04:49So, the mood right now seems to be not one of peace breaking out.
04:53It's one of cautious diplomatic movements.
04:57More phone calls, more channels opening, more exploratory contacts.
05:01But when it comes to a real end of the war, we are still a very long way from that
05:05conversation.
05:06Right now, the focus is on managing the conflict, not ending it.
05:12TWS Riga Bureau Chief, Yuri Resheto there. Thank you very much, Yuri.
