The leaders of Finland and Norway spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to discuss the prospects for a peace deal in Ukraine.
Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store initiated the call in consultation with Ukraine, they said in a joint statement.
The call aimed to directly convey messages to Mr Putin about future negotiations towards ending the war, they said. It related to trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US planned for Abu Dhabi early in November, they added.
Officials from each country have held sporadic talks throughout the war, including two rounds in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.
The leaders emphasised their continued and long-standing support for Ukraine and stressed that the war must end and negotiations must resume.
“The war comes with enormous human and material costs. The suffering and destruction will impact generations. In the call we stressed the importance of de-escalation”, Mr Store said.
Mr Stubb and Mr Store told Mr Putin that attacks on Ukraine's energy and infrastructure needed to be de-escalated, according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The two leaders “clearly told the Russian leader that real de-escalation steps are needed regarding our energy sector and infrastructure”, Mr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram after talking to the two allies.
Mr Stubb called the discussion “frank and substantive”. “Ending the war requires direct discussions,” he said.
Mr Putin “emphasised that achieving a just and long-term peace is possible only if the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation are fully and unconditionally taken into account”, according to a Kremlin statement on the call. The three leaders agreed to maintain “direct phone contacts”, it said.
The talks follow a revived effort to get peace negotiations on track over the war that is now in its fifth year. US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Mr Putin in St Petersburg last week, after holding talks in Oslo with Mr Zelenskyy and the two Nordic leaders. Mr Witkoff described Mr Putin as a “humanitarian” during the visit.
Poor relations
Ukraine’s relations with the US are at a new low after Mr Trump struck a diesel deal with Mr Putin earlier this month and tensions flared over the slowing of Starlink internet connections that are vital to Kyiv’s ability to defend against Russian missile attacks.
Budget needs are spiralling and the country lacks the air defences needed to fend off Russia’s expected winter onslaught.
The call was the first direct contact between Mr Putin and European leaders allied with Kyiv since French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to his Russian counterpart in July last year.
Ukraine’s European allies are seeking a seat at the table for discussions about European security, and Mr Store and Mr Stubb have used their countries’ shared border with Russia as justification for being part of the talks.
“We are neighbouring countries to Russia,” Mr Stubb said in the statement. “The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security.”
Their two countries have a “shared interest in stability and predictability in the Baltic Sea region and the High North”, the statement said.
Attacks
Civilian casualties in Ukraine rose by 85 per cent in September as Russia increased drone and missile attacks, according to the UN. At least 328 civilians were killed and 2,105 injured in attacks last month, UN human rights monitors said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed and 14 injured, most of them students, after a Russian strike near a university dormitory overnight.
Ukraine has continued long-range drone and missile attacks inside Russia over the past week, targeting military and industrial sites, while civilian infrastructure and residential property have also been damaged. Since Friday, strikes have killed at least 11 people in regions bordering Ukraine and left dozens injured, according to authorities.
Ukraine says its forces struck sites linked to Russia’s defence industry, including several chemical plants and a battery plant, as well as a petrochemical facility and logistics hub in Omsk, roughly 2,500km from Ukraine.
Mr Stubb and Mr Store, who were both in Helsinki at the time of the call, said they were not speaking on behalf of Europe as a whole.
Still, the call drew criticism from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who told local broadcaster TV2 that it was not co-ordinated with other European leaders. She said she was “very sceptical” over what she described as a solo initiative by Norway and Finland.
