The leaders of Finland and Norway spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, in a break from most European nations’ stance of avoiding direct contact with the Kremlin amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store initiated the conversation with Putin to discuss future negotiations to help end the war, according to a joint statement, which noted that the talk was connected to upcoming trilateral meetings between representatives from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States in Abu Dhabi next month.
Stubb and Store said they were speaking solely as leaders of their respective nations, not representing “Europe as a whole.”
“The discussion was frank and substantive. We are neighbouring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions,” Stubb said.
Store said: “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.”
Both leaders were in Helsinki for a meeting of the Nordic Council, an international body comprised of representatives of the five Nordic nations of Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland, as well as members from the Finnish autonomous region of Aland, the Danish autonomous regions of Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.
Russia confirmed the three-way conversation had taken place, saying the trio “exchanged views on the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis, taking into account Putin’s talks with U.S. special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Oct. 21 and Stubb and Store’s contacts with Witkoff and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy in Oslo,” according to a statement released on Telegram by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry also said it was “emphasized that achieving a just, long-term peace is only possible with full and unconditional consideration of the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation,” adding that “attention was also drawn to the confrontational policies of EU and NATO countries, which are leading to the prolongation of hostilities.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later said that, although he hadn’t yet seen a transcript of the conversation between Stubb, Store, and Putin, “no new ideas were voiced” during the discussion, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
“This only shows the Europeans’ ambitions to squeeze themselves into the negotiating process,” he added, saying Moscow still did not see a change in European leaders’ approach.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia (unseen) in Moscow on Aug. 26, 2026. (Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)Stubb, Store Also Call Zelenskyy
On the same day the Nordic leaders spoke to Putin, they also held a joint call with Zelenskyy to discuss their conversation with the Russian president.
Stubb and Store independently confirmed the call with the Ukrainian leader in similarly worded statements on X, posted within minutes of each other on Oct. 27.
Zelenskyy said in an X post that he was grateful for Stubb and Store’s “detailed briefing and for their active support” for diplomacy and peace efforts.
“Alex and Jonas made it clear to the Russian leader that real de-escalatory steps are needed regarding our energy and infrastructure,” he said, adding that they also discussed preparations for next month’s Russian–Ukrainian–American meeting in Abu Dhabi.
Sweden, Denmark Voice Skepticism
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who was also in the Finnish capital for the Nordic Council meeting, criticized her Finnish and Norwegian counterparts for speaking directly with Putin.
“I am very skeptical about this Norwegian and Finnish initiative. It is not coordinated with the rest of us,” she told Danish outlet TV 2 on Oct. 27.
Frederiksen added that she “cannot see any signs that Russia wants peace with Europe, neither with regard to the hybrid war that is going on every single day, nor in relation to Ukraine.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson similarly expressed caution about the move by Norway and Finland.
“My impression is that everyone wants peace except Putin. I have pretty low expectations for this kind of talk,” Kristersson said, according to Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter.
He added that whether such conversations were a good idea depends entirely on whether they furthered the cause of a “decent peace on Ukraine’s terms.”
