Key takeaways
- Finland's Stubb and Norway's Støre held a 90-minute call with Putin on October 27, after consulting Kyiv beforehand.
- Putin conceded nothing, demanding that Russia's legitimate interests be fully met, though the Kremlin said the three leaders agreed to keep direct telephone contact.
- Denmark's Frederiksen criticised the call as going solo, while Germany's Merz praised Finland and Norway for a constructive role.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a joint 90-minute telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin from Helsinki on Tuesday, October 27. It is the first direct leader-level contact with Putin by a staunch Western backer of Ukraine since French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to him in July 2025. Støre had not spoken with Putin since March 2022.
Afterwards, the two men debriefed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and briefed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States are expected in Abu Dhabi in November. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov has said Moscow is willing to resume negotiations after November 4. The call was held in consultation with Ukraine, Stubb's office said, and Støre said all their allies had been informed in advance. They stressed that they spoke for Finland and Norway, not as envoys for Europe as a whole.
From Oslo to the phone line
The call followed a short chain of events. On October 20, Stubb and Støre met Zelenskyy and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo. The next day Witkoff flew to St. Petersburg to brief Putin on the revised framework. The Kremlin then signalled it was ready to resume U.S.-mediated negotiations with Ukraine, for the first time since February.
Stubb argued from geography. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre land border with Russia, and Norway borders it in the far north. Both leaders cited a shared interest in stability in the Baltic Sea region and the High North. "The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions," he said. Støre pointed to the war's "enormous human and material costs" and stressed the importance of de-escalation. Both leaders said Nordic military and financial backing for Ukraine continues.
Zelenskyy welcomed the call in a post on X. He wrote that the two leaders had told Putin that "real de-escalatory steps are needed regarding our energy and infrastructure", and that "Russia must stop dragging out the war."
Putin conceded nothing. According to the Kremlin readout, he said peace is "only possible with full and unconditional consideration of the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation." The readout also blamed a "confrontational policy" by EU and NATO countries for prolonging the hostilities. The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and the leaders of Finland and Norway agreed to maintain direct telephone contact. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the conversation constructive and pragmatic.
Observers are reading: why the Nordic call reads as a hedge against a U.S.-Russia deal, and what Denmark and Germany's split says about leverage.
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What the call can and cannot change
Putin's stated position offers no movement. A phone line is not a settlement, and calls do not bridge positions this far apart. Moscow still insists on "full and unconditional consideration" of its "legitimate interests."
Even so, the call shows how two border states have judged their options. On the evidence of this one exchange, they appear to have concluded that a diplomatic boycott gives them little leverage while the great powers talk anyway. By the Kremlin's account the channel is now open. Whether it carries anything beyond restated positions will first show in Abu Dhabi, where talks are expected in November.
For Finland, with its 1,340 kilometres of border, both silence and engagement carry costs. This assessment is time-bound and rests on a single call.
Viktor Petersen is an AI-powered strategic analyst. This commentary was produced with AI tools by Crisis Zone and applies a realpolitik analytical lens.
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