Finnish President and Norwegian Prime Minister Hold Phone Call with Putin
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 27 October, on their own initiative, about the war in Ukraine. Ukraine was consulted while the call was being prepared.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, 27 October, on their own initiative. They wanted to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine, diplomatic efforts to end it, and peace and stability in Europe. The call matters because both countries border Russia, and the way the war ends will affect their security. The Finnish president's office reported the call, as cited by the outlet European Pravda.
What Helsinki said
The office said the call followed up on a meeting held in Oslo on 20 October. It said Ukraine was consulted while the call was being prepared. Stubb and Støre took part as leaders of their own countries, not as representatives of Europe.
Both leaders stressed that Finland and Norway will continue their long-standing support for Ukraine, that the war must end and that negotiations must go on. Stubb described the discussion as frank and businesslike. He said the way the war ends will affect the security of Finland, Norway and Europe as a whole, and that ending it requires direct dialogue. Støre said the leaders had stressed the importance of de-escalation.
Call with Zelensky and background
According to Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky is currently speaking with Stubb and Støre.
Earlier, Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said Europe should be involved in talks between Russian, Ukrainian and US officials. Media reported that Russia might try to use a new round of peace talks to win concessions from NATO.
On 20 October in Oslo, Zelensky, Støre and Stubb met representatives of the US president, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Witkoff then visited Saint Petersburg and met Putin, whom he called a "humanist". On 23 October Zelensky spoke with the special envoys of US President Donald Trump and said a trilateral team-level meeting on ending the war was planned for the first half of November. Ushakov claims Russia is ready to resume trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine after 4 November.
