World
Nordic Leaders Hold Rare Direct Call With Russian President
Finland and Norway initiate contact with Moscow as upcoming trilateral negotiations approach, drawing mixed reactions from European allies.
By Headlinne · Compiled from reporting by BBC, Guardian and Hindu
Finland and Norway held a rare joint phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to discuss potential negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The ninety-minute conversation originated from an initiative discussed in Oslo on October 20 between Nordic leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and United States envoy Steve Witkoff.
The dialogue represents the first direct communication between European leaders and the Kremlin in more than a year, occurring amid intense diplomatic efforts to address the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb emphasized the gravity of the discussions in a joint statement issued with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
"The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security," said Mr. Stubb.
Mr. Store told reporters that the conversation revealed significant disagreements between the parties regarding the path forward in Ukraine.
According to a statement from the Kremlin, Mr. Putin asserted during the call that confrontational policies from the European Union and NATO are prolonging the armed conflict.
The Nordic leaders clarified that they acted independently and did not represent Europe as a whole during the diplomatic outreach.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed reservations about the unilateral diplomatic effort during a gathering of regional leaders in Finland.
"I'm very sceptical about this Norwegian and Finnish initiative," said Ms. Frederiksen.
Mr. Store defended the decision by arguing that European nations must maintain independent communication channels with the Russian leadership alongside the United States administration.
Separately, a temporary local ceasefire began in the Russian-controlled southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky to facilitate an impending humanitarian evacuation.
The leaders plan to continue their diplomatic engagement ahead of upcoming trilateral talks scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi next month.
Reporting from
- BBC News
Norway and Finland leaders hold rare call with Putin
- The GuardianBalanced
Oleshky truce appears to hold as two European leaders have ‘frank’ call with Putin
- The HinduBalanced
Norway, Finland leaders hold 'frank and substantive' talk with Putin
How this article was made: Headlinne wrote it with AI from the 3 reports listed above. Direct quotes are checked word for word against those reports, every number appears in at least one of them, and no other sentence is copied from one. Photos are from those reports and credited to them. Each report’s page on Headlinne links to the outlet’s original.