Leaders of Finland and Norway held a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the Finnish President's administration, the conversation was a continuation of the meeting held in Oslo on October 20 and it was conducted in consultation with Ukraine. The leaders stated that they were participating in the conversation as representatives of their own countries and not on behalf of Europe as a whole. 1TV+6

Details and goals of the conversation

According to Stubb, the discussion was "frank and substantive." The goal of the conversation was to directly convey messages related to future negotiations to Putin, which was linked to meetings planned in Abu Dhabi. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the leaders of Finland and Norway clearly demanded real steps toward de-escalation from Putin, especially regarding Ukraine's energy infrastructure. 1TV+8

According to the Kremlin, Putin noted that a just peace would only be possible by taking Russia's interests into account and accused the European Union and NATO of confrontational policy. According to a Reuters source, Putin stated that Russia will not abandon the goal of fully occupying the Donbas region. According to Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov, the leaders conveyed to Putin that Zelenskyy wants to speak with him face-to-face, to which the Russian side raised the issue of the legitimacy of Kyiv's leadership. Publika+3

Reactions

The telephone call received mixed reactions in Europe. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that she is skeptical about the initiatives of individual players and spoke about the necessity of maintaining unity. For his part, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that Kyiv welcomes this diplomatic effort because it was coordinated with Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, however, noted that he does not see changes in Europe's approach. Formula+4