Finland and Norway speak with Putin on Ukraine

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 27 about the war in Ukraine, in a diplomatic effort linked to anticipated talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi. The Finnish presidential office said the call followed a meeting in Oslo on October 20 and was intended to convey messages directly to Putin about future negotiations. The trilateral talks are expected in November, but no specific date was confirmed in the statements about the call. Stubb described the discussion as frank and substantive, saying that ending the war requires direct discussions. Støre said the leaders stressed the importance of de-escalation and pointed to the conflict’s human and material costs. The Finnish and Norwegian leaders said they spoke as representatives of their own countries, not on behalf of Europe as a whole. The leaders also discussed security in the Baltic Sea region and the High North, according to the Finnish and Norwegian statements. The Kremlin said Putin argued that any settlement must fully take Russia’s interests into account and blamed EU and NATO policies...