The leaders of Finland and Norway have held a joint telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the aim of discussing the possibilities for future negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
The conversation, which lasted about 90 minutes and was conducted by the Finnish capital, Helsinki, constitutes a rare contact of the Russian president with European leaders.
The offices of Finnish President Alexander Stubbb, and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, announced that the initiative was aimed at reviewing diplomatic efforts to end the war, stressing that it was not undertaken in the name of all of Europe, the BBC writes, broadcast Dukajini.
According to Stubb, the conversation was direct and conservative, while the differences between the parties remained major.
The outcome of the war will have a direct impact on our security and on Europe’s broader security, Stubbb said.
Meanwhile, Norwegian Prime Minister Stére stressed that war is causing serious human and material consequences that will be felt in the next generations.
War comes at extraordinary human and material cost. Suffering and destruction will affect generations, he said.
The Kremlin announced that Putin had stressed that a just and lasting peace can only be achieved if Russia’s interests are taken into account.
After the call, the Russian president blamed policies, as he described it, confrontational of the European Union and NATO for the duration of the war, which began with the full Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the Kremlin’s statement, the three leaders agreed to continue direct communication via telephone. Stére also said their allies were informed in advance of this conversation.
After talking with Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has developed a communication with Stubb and St. He thanked the two leaders for active support of Ukraine.
Zelensky announced that the next round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, expected to be held in November in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates, had also been addressed.
He said he had discussed with the two leaders opportunities for further co-operation with European partners.
We discussed different forms of our engagement with partners in Europe, which may be useful for further support of diplomacy, our defence and our common security, Zelensky said.
Last week, the Ukrainian president had met in Oslo with the leaders of Finland and Norway, as well as with US special envoy Steve Witkoff. After meetings in the Norwegian capital, Witkoff traveled to St Petersburg, where he met Putin.
After these contacts, Ukraine, Russia and the US agreed to resume trilateral negotiations, which Russia had interrupted for several months.
Tuesday’s conversation has prompted different reactions from European leaders. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed scepticism about this dialogue, telling Danish broadcaster DDR that the initiative had not been co-ordinated with the rest of European countries.
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Stubbb had informed him that Europe’s position regarding the upcoming talks on the United Arab Emirates was relatively optimistic.
Stubb and Stére are the first European leaders to have contacted Putin directly since French President Emmanuel Macron’s conversation with him in July 2025.
With the American administration’s stance on Russia changing, some European leaders have argued that Europe should try to establish direct contacts with the Kremlin.
Moscow, on the other hand, has constantly criticised European leaders and accused the European Union of extending the war by supplying Ukrainian forces with weapons.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last weekend it would be good for a European representative to attend the peace negotiations table.
Source Layer: Dukeagini