Stubb and Støre hold call with Putin on settling the war in Ukraine

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This was reported by Stubb’s office.

The Finnish president described the conversation as “open and substantive.”

“The discussion was candid and businesslike. We are Russia’s neighbors. The way the war ends will affect the security of Finland and Norway, and in a broader sense, the security of all of Europe. Direct dialogue is necessary to end the war,” Stubb emphasized.

Stubb’s office said that Norway and Finland “have an interest in stability and predictability in the Baltic Sea region and in the northernmost areas.” Støre, in turn, said that the European leaders had stressed the importance of de-escalating the war in Ukraine. The parties also discussed the upcoming trilateral meeting of delegations from Ukraine, the United States and Russia in Abu Dhabi.

It is noted that Stubb and Støre themselves initiated the conversation and called Putin as the leaders of their countries, not speaking on behalf of Europe as a whole. The call was a continuation of the meeting in Oslo on October 20 and was coordinated with Ukraine.

The Kremlin press service also issued a press release about the conversation. Moscow said the parties exchanged views “on issues of settling the Ukrainian crisis, taking into account” Putin’s talks with US President’s special envoy Steven Witkoff in St. Petersburg on October 21 and Stubb’s and Støre’s contacts with Witkoff and Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo.

“The interlocutors welcomed the agreement reached to resume in the first half of November in Abu Dhabi trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States, aimed in particular at issues of ensuring the security of Russia and Ukraine after the complete end of hostilities. Vladimir Putin assessed the current situation in the conflict zone in Ukraine, recalling its root causes. It was stressed that achieving a just long-term peace is possible only with full and unconditional consideration of the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation. At the same time, attention was drawn to the confrontational policy of the EU and NATO countries, which is leading to a prolongation of hostilities,” the press release said.

In addition, the Russian president informed about the start of a humanitarian operation conducted with US mediation in the area of Oleshky and the introduction of a silence regime near the city.

The Kremlin added that the interlocutors touched upon the topic of ensuring security and stability in the regions of the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe and “confirmed the importance of observing international maritime law and the principle of freedom of navigation.” From this it can be assumed that the issue of the detention of Russian tankers in the Baltic was raised during the conversation. Finally, Moscow mentioned that the politicians agreed to maintain direct contacts by phone to discuss peace in Ukraine.

The Office of the President of Ukraine said that after the conversation with Putin, Stubb and Støre called Zelensky. Zelensky himself wrote in his Telegram channel that Stubb and Støre told Putin about the need for “real de-escalation steps regarding our energy and infrastructure.”

Note that after the talks with the United States last week, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Russia views Norway and Finland as possible new participants in the negotiations. European media have also recently written that Stubb is being considered as a negotiator with Russia.

The last time Putin spoke by phone with a European leader supporting Kyiv was in July last year — he then called French President Emmanuel Macron.

Recall that the Kremlin said the United States has so far failed to force Kyiv to agree to a peaceful settlement, since for this it is necessary to negotiate not only with Ukraine but also with Europe. We wrote about the prospects for a peaceful settlement of the war in Ukraine in a separate article.