EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas open to communication with Russian leadership

STOCKHOLM, September 15. /TASS/. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she would answer the phone if Russian President Vladimir Putin or Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called her, according to the Finnish television and radio broadcaster Yle.

"I will certainly talk to them if the opportunity presents itself," Kallas told Yle.

Kallas also recalled her meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at international forums, including at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the G20, where, according to her, she "directly thrusted" the European Union’s stance upon him.

However, the European diplomacy chief reaffirmed the EU's previously announced position that it cannot now act as a full-fledged mediator between Russia and Ukraine, as it keeps supporting the Kiev regime.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently relayed that Russian President Putin said Russia was ready to negotiate with Europe. But, Peskov pointed out that Brussels was making a mistake, whether out of its foolishness or incompetence, by trying to think of itself as being above Moscow and speaking to it from a position of strength.

Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said in an interview with TASS upon his recent work visit to China that representatives of European countries that have invested in financing the Ukrainian armed forces are trying to participate in negotiations on Ukraine only with the aim of disrupting them.