The key facts

  • The conversation took place on October 27 at the initiative of Finland and Norway; the leaders called from Helsinki on behalf of their own countries, not the EU
  • This is Putin's first direct contact with European leaders supporting Kyiv since the conversation with Macron in July of last year
  • Before the call, Stubb and Støre consulted with the Ukrainian side; the conversation is linked to preparations for meetings in Abu Dhabi

First direct contact in more than a year

On October 27, President of Finland Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The contact was reported by the office of the Finnish president, while the plans for the call had earlier been reported the same day by the Bloomberg agency. According to the office, the initiators of the call were the European leaders themselves, who contacted Putin from Helsinki and spoke on behalf of their own states, not the European Union.

What the parties said

Stubb described the talks as frank and substantive and emphasized that the outcome of the Ukrainian conflict would have a direct impact on Finnish and European security. In his words, ending the conflict requires direct dialogue with Russia. Støre, citing a statement published by the office of the Finnish leader, noted that the parties stressed the importance of de-escalation, pointed to the enormous human and material losses caused by the fighting, and said that the consequences of the conflict would affect the lives of several generations. The main topics of the conversation were the situation in Ukraine and diplomatic efforts to end it, as well as the need to resume negotiations and preserve stability in the Baltic region and northern Europe.

Context and reaction

These talks became Putin's first direct contact with European leaders who support Kyiv since French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with him in July of last year. The conversation took place against the backdrop of discussions resumed this week on the EU's participation in negotiations on Ukraine following the visit to Moscow of US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and his meeting with Putin; it was also linked to preparations for upcoming meetings in Abu Dhabi. Before the call, Stubb and Støre held consultations with the Ukrainian side. The reaction in Moscow came quickly: Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, told Gazeta.Ru that the very fact of a contact initiated by the European side 'indicates that, after all, common sense and a positive attitude are returning to the minds of some European political figures,' but that it is important for concrete agreements to follow the gestures.