Ex-president Sauli Niinistö said that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's surprise telephone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be of decisive importance in terms of peace in Ukraine.
Friday’s call was the first known contact between the German and Russian leaders in nearly two years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the move, arguing that Russia must continue to be isolated.
Interviewed on the Yle discussion programme Ykkösaamu on Saturday, Niinistö downplayed the significance of the call.
"As I understand, there was complete agreement on this, as has otherwise apparently prevailed, between Washington and Berlin, and it may be that this sequence of events was first discussed with the Biden administration and then possibly also with the [incoming] Trump administration, as to what should be done. But in and of itself, that phone call will probably not really change much," Niinistö said.
Zelensky’s view "quite understandable"
Niinistö – who has met many times with the German, Russian and Ukrainian leaders –responded to Zelensky’s claim that the call plays into Putin’s hands and would "open a Pandora’s box".
"I think it's quite understandable. Throughout, he has emphasised that there should be no dialogue," Niinistö said.
Facing a snap election, Scholz’s Social Democrats are under pressure from Russia-friendly populist parties on both sides of the political spectrum that argue the government has not deployed enough diplomacy to end the war, according to Reuters.
The Kremlin said the conversation had come at Berlin's request, and that Putin had told Scholz any agreement to end the war in Ukraine must take Russian security interests into account and reflect the "new territorial realities".
Non-alignment a key issue for Ukraine
Niinistö also discussed German leaders’ suggestions of a "Finnish model" for Ukraine, implying that it would be forced to make territorial concessions and then remain non-aligned, as Finland did during the Cold War.
"Non-alignment seems to be the most central issue for Ukraine, that their hands are not tied," said the ex-president.
Niinistö, who stepped down in March after 12 years in office, also discussed his report on EU civilian and defence readiness, which he presented to the European Parliament on Thursday.
He said that the EU must be ready to "fill all the gaps, if there are any, in the Nato structure". Niinistö suggested this may happen if the US starts to focus more on the situation in the Pacific, for example. There are also concerns that president-elect Donald Trump could seek to undermine or even pull the US out of Nato after he takes office in late January.
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