Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke with Vladimir Putin on 27 October, the first direct contact between European leaders and the Russian president in over a year; Denmark's leader voiced scepticism.
The leaders of Finland and Norway held a joint 90-minute telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin from Helsinki on 27 October, a rare channel of direct contact between Moscow and European leaders. According to the BBC, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said the aim was to discuss future negotiations to help end the war in Ukraine, and that they spoke for their own countries rather than for Europe as a whole. Stubb called the exchange frank and substantive and said ending the war requires direct discussions, while Støre said it showed big differences in views. The BBC reports it was the first contact between European leaders and Putin since French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to him in July 2025.
The Kremlin's account, as relayed by the BBC, was that Putin told the two leaders a just and lasting peace would only be possible if Russia's interests were taken into account, and he said confrontational EU and NATO policies were prolonging the war. All three, the Kremlin said, agreed to continue their direct phone communication. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the Nordic leaders afterwards and thanked them for their active support; Al Jazeera reports he said they had told Putin that real steps were needed to de-escalate attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and infrastructure. The call was held in consultation with Ukraine and followed talks in Oslo on 20 October with Zelensky and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who then met Putin in St Petersburg.
Reaction among allies was mixed. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told broadcaster DR she was very sceptical and that the call had not been coordinated with the rest of Europe, although Støre said allies had been informed in advance; Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Stubb had told him Europe's position on the upcoming talks was moderately optimistic. The contact came as Kyiv and Moscow prepare for US-mediated technical meetings in Abu Dhabi in early November, and after an overnight Russian attack on Kyiv that Ukrainian officials said included 16 ballistic missiles, more than 280 drones and a strike on the South Bridge. Whether the new channel will influence the Abu Dhabi talks remains unclear, and the details reported so far come from the governments involved.
