Finland's Stubb and Norway's Støre hold rare call with Putin ahead of Abu Dhabi talks
The two Nordic leaders, both firm backers of Ukraine, spoke to Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in consultation with Kyiv — their first known direct contact since shortly after the 2022 invasion — and then briefed Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a joint phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin from Helsinki on Tuesday. According to AP, it was their first known direct contact with the Kremlin leader since shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
What Helsinki and Oslo said
The Finnish presidency said the call followed a meeting in Oslo on 20 October, was held in consultation with Ukraine, and was linked to upcoming talks in Abu Dhabi. The two leaders stressed they spoke for their own countries, not for Europe as a whole, and that Finland and Norway will continue supporting Ukraine. “The discussion was frank and substantive,” Stubb said; Støre said they stressed the importance of de-escalation and later acknowledged that “significant differences” remain.
What the Kremlin said
The Kremlin’s readout said the leaders welcomed the planned resumption of Russia–Ukraine–US talks in Abu Dhabi in early to mid November. Putin repeated that peace is possible only if Russia’s interests are taken into account “in full” and blamed EU and NATO policies for prolonging the fighting. Baltic Sea security and freedom of navigation were also discussed, and the three agreed to keep direct phone contact. Afterwards, Stubb and Støre spoke with President Zelenskyy, his office said.
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