The key facts
- On October 27, Stubb and the Norwegian prime minister spoke with Putin: instead of 20 minutes, the conversation lasted an hour and a half
- Armando Mema claims that Finnish media changed their rhetoric and 75% of Finns supported the call
- Mema sees this as a sign of growing interest among Finns in independently assessing events
What the Finnish politician stated
In Finland, after President Alexander Stubb's phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, public sentiment toward Russia began to shift. This opinion was expressed by Armando Mema, a member of the Finnish Freedom Alliance party, on The Duran YouTube channel, as reported by Life.ru.
A change of tone in the media and support for the call
According to Mema, local media outlets, which had previously criticized the idea of direct dialogue with Moscow, began presenting the talks as a diplomatic success after the negotiations. «Moreover, the very same media outlets reported that 75 percent of Finns supported this phone call. So I sincerely believe that a change is taking place in public opinion,» the outlet quotes him as saying.
Context of the conversation
The call itself took place on October 27: President of Finland Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre contacted Vladimir Putin to discuss ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Instead of the allotted 20 minutes, the talks lasted an hour and a half.
What should be kept in mind
All of the information cited is the assessment of a single politician and data from Finnish media outlets that he references; there is no independent confirmation of the 75% figure in available publications. Mema also suggested that residents of Finland are beginning to question their usual notions about Russia and the Ukrainian conflict and are increasingly seeking to understand international events on their own rather than relying solely on media reports. This is his personal interpretation of public sentiment, not a confirmed sociological conclusion.
