Norway and Finland leaders call Putin; European capitals divided

The leaders of Finland and Norway held a rare phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported. The call lasted 90 minutes and was meant to push for an end to the war in Ukraine ahead of a planned round of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi next month.

The call departed from a longstanding policy among Western European heads of state of avoiding direct talks with the Russian leader. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere took part. A call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy followed.

Stubb described the discussion as "frank and substantive". He said the two leaders acted in their individual capacities, not as representatives of Europe, and that the call followed a meeting in Oslo on 20 October. He said it was prepared in consultation with Ukraine and the United States, that all Western allies were consulted, and that Ukraine had sought a new channel of communication. Stoere said they had stressed the importance of de-escalation and that talking to the other side does not mean easing pressure.

The Kremlin's summary said a just and long-term peace is possible only if Russia's legitimate interests are fully and unconditionally taken into account. It also pointed to what it called the confrontational policies of EU and NATO countries, which it said prolong the hostilities. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the call "constructive and substantive" and said Putin's position is well known.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the call offered "nothing new", arguing that European countries were seeking a role in negotiations. Presidential aide Yury Ushakov, responding to proposals for direct talks, said the current leader in Kyiv is not legitimate and that Zelenskyy should come to Moscow if he wants them.

Reaction in Europe was mixed. Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he had low expectations and that some European leaders had not been informed. Denmark's Mette Frederiksen said Europe should stick together rather than go solo. Poland's Donald Tusk said he told Stubb and Stoere that absolute caution and vigilance are necessary. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said any contact with Russia needs a united position, real leverage and a list of European demands.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents would happen "very soon". Al Jazeera reported that Western leaders have been largely sidelined from the US-led negotiations, and quoted analyst Gerhard Mangott as saying European governments had "manoeuvred themselves into a dead end".