Stubb: Zelenskyy and Putin may meet at the G20 summit in Johannesburg

According to Stubb, although there are currently no signs of a quick ceasefire or truce, "the work behind the scenes will continue."

He clarified that last week he discussed the situation in Ukraine with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The leaders of these countries are expected to meet with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, and later, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will meet with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

According to him, Finland’s approach to the war in Ukraine remains unchanged: military and economic pressure on Russia must be intensified to force Putin to come to the negotiating table. Stubb believes that a possible opportunity for this could arise at the end of this month in South Africa.

"If, over the next two or three weeks, the situation develops as expected, the G20 summit in Johannesburg may become the meeting place for Putin and Zelenskyy," Stubb said.

At the same time, Stubb does not see a possibility of a meeting between Trump and Putin before the G20 summit, since their meeting in Budapest was canceled.

Putin–Zelenskyy meeting

Zelenskyy has repeatedly declared his readiness for a trilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin but emphasized that Ukraine will not accept conditions imposed by the Kremlin.

Back in early September, Putin confirmed his readiness for negotiations but insisted that Zelenskyy should come to Moscow and be "ready for discussion."

Later, the Ukrainian president clarified that he remains open to a meeting with Putin but categorically rejects the possibility of holding talks on the territory of Russia or Belarus.