Nordic leaders call Putin ahead of planned Ukraine talks

Finland's President Alexander Stubb and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre called Vladimir Putin on 27 October to press for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. The Finnish president's office said the initiative followed consultations with Ukraine and related to planned meetings in Abu Dhabi. [1]

The office drew a clear boundary around the call: the two leaders represented their own countries, rather than Europe as a whole. It also said Finland and Norway would maintain their support for Ukraine while urging negotiations to resume. [1]

The contact has prompted debate about its timing. In a discussion reported by Yle on 28 October, University of Tampere geopolitics expert Tuomas Forsberg said Europeans had moved to convey their messages amid US negotiations, rather than in response to the positive gesture from Russia that had previously been hoped for. That is his assessment of the diplomatic sequence. [2]

Reuters, in reporting carried by ABC News, found no indication of a softened Russian position in the Kremlin's account. Moscow continued to insist that its interests be taken into account in any settlement. Reuters described the Abu Dhabi discussions as planned for November. [3]

Renewed direct contact therefore establishes a diplomatic channel, not a negotiated end to the war. The statements and reporting reviewed for this article do not establish an agreed settlement. Whether the planned talks produce one remains a separate question.