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UNIAN, photo: president.gov.ua, screenshot from a video The President of Finland Alexander Stubb and the Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre talked for several months about the idea of calling the dictator of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. They believed that such a decisive and direct step in communicating with the Russian leader would demonstrate Europe’s resolve.
However, as Politico writes, instead this conversation triggered the most serious split among Nordic allied countries since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The publication spoke with diplomats and politicians and learned what happened during the phone conversation among Stubb, Støre, and Putin.
Prep for the call
In October Trump returned to the question of ending the war in Ukraine. He criticized President Volodymyr Zelensky for continuing attacks on the Russian energy infrastructure, but stated that there are "no complaints" against the actions of the Putin side.
Fearing that talks could be derailed, Stubb and Støre decided to intervene.
"After consulting with Zelensky, the leaders of Norway and Finland concluded that it is unacceptable for Trump, Witkov, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to remain the only Western representatives engaging in direct dialogue with Putin," the publication notes.
Over several months Stubb and Støre privately discussed the possibility of a joint call to the Kremlin, concluding that restoring dialogue is extremely important ahead of new talks in Abu Dhabi.
As many diplomats privately admit, there is less confidence in Washington defending Europe’s interests, whether Europe’s own or Ukraine’s.
"We need leaders who support Ukraine and who can also convey their position to Putin," said another official.
Ultimately Stubb and Støre connected with Putin’s entourage and agreed on the format of the conversation: each side would take turns presenting pre-prepared points, without interrupting the interlocutor.
Details of the conversation
According to some reports, Putin read a lengthy lesson to the Nordic leaders about Slavic history and the origins of the war in Ukraine.
One senior official familiar with the course of the talks said that Stubb and Støre patiently listened to Putin throughout the entire 90-minute conversation. At the same time, other European officials informed about the content of the call contradicted this information.
Stubb and Støre conveyed to Putin a message from Zelensky: questions of territorial borders can be discussed only at the leaders’ level, in a format of a personal meeting, with de-escalation steps as a precondition. Then Stubb and his colleague moved on to the topic of security in the Baltic Sea.
According to officials, one of the aims of this phone call was to assess Putin’s psychological state. Støre noted that during the conversation Putin behaved as "rational" and "professional". "His arguments were presented very clearly."
Negative reaction in Europe
When Stubb’s office announced the unexpected phone call, the leaders of Denmark, Sweden, and several other countries were in Helsinki at a North Council meeting. And they did not even try to hide their irritation at what they heard.
Their dissatisfaction was caused not so much by the decision to establish contact with Putin, but by the fact that Stubb and Støre did not coordinate their actions with allies in advance.
Meanwhile, Stubb and Støre insist that they never tried to speak on behalf of anyone other than their own countries. Before the call they discussed in detail with Zelensky exactly what to tell Putin, and after the conversation they again informed him of the results.
The conversation of the leaders of Finland and Norway with Putin
27 In October there was a series of telephone conversations involving the president of Finland and the prime minister of Norway. The aim of the talks was to convey directly to Putin Ukraine’s message regarding future peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
Reuters, citing a source close to the Kremlin, reported that Putin during the call with Stubb and Støre said that Russia has no intention of giving up the capture of all of Donbas.
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