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Nordic Leaders Call Putin to Urge End to Ukraine War
· Confirmed
In Short: Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a rare call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a rare call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 27 to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
The call was initiated by the two Nordic leaders from Helsinki to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine and diplomatic efforts to promote peace and stability in Europe.
Stubb and Støre said their aim was to convey messages directly regarding future negotiations towards peace, particularly in light of upcoming trilateral talks scheduled for November in Abu Dhabi.
Putin told the leaders that a just and lasting peace would only be possible if Russia's interests were considered, and criticized EU and NATO policies for prolonging the conflict.
Stubb and Støre described the conversation with Putin as 'frank and substantive,' though Støre acknowledged there were 'big differences in views' with Putin.
Following the call with Putin, Stubb and Støre spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who expressed gratitude for their 'active support' and said they had urged Putin to take real steps to de-escalate attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities and infrastructure.
Zelenskyy said on X that the Nordic leaders had made it clear to Putin that real de-escalatory steps were needed regarding Ukraine's energy and infrastructure.
The call was not coordinated with other European leaders, and some European governments have criticized the initiative, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressing skepticism about the phone call with Putin.
Stubb and Støre's offices said the call was prepared in consultation with Ukraine and the US following a meeting between Zelenskyy, the Nordic leaders, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo last week.
Putin also reaffirmed his view that the root causes of the conflict include Ukraine's desire to exist as a sovereign state, and he emphasized that Russia's interests must be fully and unconditionally taken into account for a lasting peace settlement.
Background
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country comprising the western and northernmost parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe, the remote Arctic island Jan Mayen and the archipelago Svalbard. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency, and not a part of the Kingdom; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land.
What's confirmed
- After the call, Putin said "confrontational" EU and Nato policies were prolonging the war which began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
- The Ukrainian leader said he was grateful for the "active support" of his Finnish and Norwegian counterparts.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken to the two Nordic leaders after their conversation with Putin.
- As the US administration's position on Russia has softened, several European leaders have said Europe should be trying to establish direct contacts with the Kremlin.
- Their initiative was not on behalf of "Europe as a whole".
- Finland and Norway, which border Russia, initiated the call to "discuss Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts to end the war and promote peace and stability in Europe", the leaders' offices said.
- Finland ’s president and Norway ’s prime minister held a “frank and substantive” discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 27 about efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the Nordic leaders said.
- In brief: Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre urged Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s war against Ukraine and resume negotiations.
- The leaders described the Putin call as "frank and substantive," while the Kremlin said Putin criticized EU and NATO policies as prolonging the war but agreed to keep direct phone contact.
- The two Nordic leaders spoke with Putin before holding a separate call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- Most Western European leaders have avoided direct contact with Putin since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
- “Ending the war requires direct discussions,” he said.
What's still developing
- Finland shares a 1,340km frontier with Russia and joined NATO in April 2023, while Norway, a founding member of the alliance, meets Russia in the Arctic.
- Norway and Finland, both NATO members, share borders with Russia, and the statement emphasized that the countries are "firm supporters of Ukraine." Subscribe to help support the work of our entire newsroom.
- Norway Seizes Russian Vessel Professor Molchanov in Svalbard to Enforce Naftogaz $4.22B Award NATO Deploys Turkish Fighter Aircraft After Ukrainian Drones Enter Estonian Airspace Donald Trump said his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are travelling this weekend to Moscow and Kyiv with a proposal to “end the war,” as the diplomatic effort aims to revive talks between Ukraine and Russia.
- Finnish defense company Patria completed assembly of the country's first F135 engine on September 3, marking a major step in Finland's role in the F-35 program, as reported by Interesting Engineering.
- The Kremlin said after the Putin-Witkoff talks that Russia was willing to resume U.S.-mediated peace talks with Ukraine in November, for the first time since February. (Reporting by Essi Lehto and Mark Trevelyan, editing by Louise Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Alexandra Hudson) By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners.
- President Donald Trump, who has engaged with Putin and tried — so far without success — to broker a peace agreement.
- And Finland has provided 35 different packages of financial support, and its tech companies ICEYE and Nokia recently announced a partnership with Ukraine to build out its own satellite communications system.
- 27, as part of a renewed push to bring Moscow's war in Ukraine to an end.
- Following Witkoff's meeting with Putin last week, Peskov acknowledged that Moscow regarded Finland and Norway as new participants in efforts to resolve the conflict, now in its fifth year.
- Both Finland and Norway share borders with Russia, a geographic reality their leaders have cited in arguing that they should be involved in negotiations affecting Europe's security.
- True editorial freedom requires independent funding.
- As Trump prepares to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the third time this year, Russian leader Putin’s proposal for a trilateral summit has alarmed Russia hawks in Washington.
Sources
- ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporationlink
- Al Jazeeralink
- BBClink
- Breaking Defenselink
- HuffPostlink
- NBC Newslink
- Nilepostlink
- Oz Arab Medialink
- The Irish Timeslink
- Türkiye Todaylink
- Newsweeklink
- Al Jazeeralink
- Ynetnewslink
- Newscordlink
- Enlink
- Wikipedia — background on Norway link
- DRM News — video link