Finnish and Norwegian Leaders Hold Rare Phone Call With Vladimir Putin

Finland's President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a joint telephone call from Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. The rare contact between European leaders and Putin took place on Tuesday, following previous discussions held in Oslo on October 20 with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

The Nordic leaders stated that their initiative was not on behalf of Europe as a whole, noting that Finland and Norway share a border with Russia and that the conflict impacts European security. Following the conversation, Putin asserted that confrontational EU and Nato policies are prolonging the conflict, while Moscow regularly accuses European leaders of extending the war by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned last weekend that having a European negotiator at the peace talks would be good.

After speaking with the two Nordic leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed upcoming trilateral talks scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi in November, following an agreement by Ukraine, Russia, and the US to resume three-way negotiations. The dialogue drew varied reactions across Europe, as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed skepticism because the dialogue was not coordinated with the rest of Europe. Stubb and Støre are the first European leaders to contact Putin since French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with him in July 2025.