Re. Stephen Kinzer's plea for a neutral Ukraine (in yesterday's Salon):
"President Kekkonen told me that Finland must not only remain neutral, but she must be seen to remain neutral, and above all she must be able to convince Moscow of her desire as well as the ability to maintain this neutrality.... He told me that he made it a point to spend part of his summer, as well as winter vacations, with the Soviet leaders in different resorts in their vast country, and it was obvious that the personal relations that he had developed with them were unique, and quite beyond anything by any other non-communist leader.... he said that at a time of political crisis it was very important to 'put oneself in Moscow and then see how things look from there'. Sound advice from the most accomplished of practitioners."
[Jamsheed Marker, Quiet Diplomacy: Memoirs of an Ambassador of Pakistan, 2010]