Kremlin aide comments on Putin’s readiness to pick up the phone, Europe’s outrage

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov stated that President Vladimir Putin is always polite and comprehensive during international calls and has agreed to answer future calls from Finnish and Norwegian leaders. Russia did not anticipate Europe's strong negative reaction to Putin's recent phone talks with Finland and Norway, believing the talks were coordinated with key European countries. Moscow supports continuing trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine and has no immediate plans for further