08:47 18-11-2025

EU Faces Pressure for Direct Talks With Moscow, Stubb Warns

Finnish President Stubb and other European voices urge the EU to prepare for direct talks with Moscow, warning of strategic risks and rising geopolitical pressure.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb told journalists that the European Union will, sooner or later, have to move toward direct negotiations with Moscow. In an interview with Politico, he stressed that the moment for such talks is bound to come, and that Europe must approach it with solid, well-coordinated preparation. His remarks came in response to a question about whether EU member states should seek direct engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier, in October, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban argued that the EU’s refusal to open dialogue with Moscow amounted to a serious strategic miscalculation, warning that in such a scenario Europe’s future would effectively be shaped by outside actors.

A similar assessment was voiced in an interview with the Polish outlet Wirtualna Polska by Carlo Masala, a professor at the Bundeswehr University in Munich. He compared European countries to a «Titanic» steadily heading toward disaster.