[1] Talvitie has also been an EU Special Representative in the Caucasus and an OSCE Special Envoy in Georgia Talvitie was born in Viipuri, graduated from the University of Helsinki in 1963 and joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1964.

In addition to the ambassador's duties, he worked at The Hague Embassy and at the United Nations Office in New York.

Consultative Officer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 1983–1984 Talvitie is a well-known Soviet expert.

[5] Translator-writer Jukka Mallinen has once again accused Talvitie of having his chairman period of taking the Finnish-Russian Society towards the Kremlins handshake and voice[6] Talvitie has commented on the media's Russian military operations in Georgia in 2008 and in Ukraine in 2014.

[7][8] Helsingin Sanomat has criticized Talvitie for his defenses of the Russian invasion in the Crimea.