Norwegian prime minister denies FT report that Putin lectured him on medieval Slavs

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has rejected a Financial Times (FT) report claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin recounted the history of the Slavs during a phone call with him and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. The call took place on October 27 and concerned Russia's war in Ukraine and how it might end.

What the FT reported

The day before, the British newspaper reported that Putin had lectured the two leaders on the history of the Slavs in the Middle Ages. According to the paper, he spent much of the conversation on what the Kremlin calls the "initial reasons for the conflict" instead of addressing the key questions about ending the war in Ukraine.

Støre's response

In an interview with the Norwegian newspaper VG, Støre said his side had asked the FT to correct the story because it was not true. He said the paper would have to do so, since he and Stubb took part in the conversation. When VG asked the FT for comment, a representative said the paper would make no changes and stands by its journalism.

Later, on the program Politisk kvarter on Norway's public broadcaster NRK, Støre gave a somewhat different account of the call, saying Putin spoke about the situation in Europe after 2014.

Similar episodes

Putin has made long digressions into Russian history in other conversations before. Examples include his 2024 interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson and his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.