The call was supposed to last 20 minutes. It ran to 90.
On Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre phoned Vladimir Putin from Helsinki. It was the first time a leader of one of Ukraine’s European allies had spoken to the Russian president since Emmanuel Macron’s call in July 2025. Støre told Norway’s NRK the call ran 90 minutes rather than the planned 20, and that the talks were substantive but showed major differences.
At the end, the Kremlin said, the three leaders agreed to keep talking directly.
The Nordic leaders say they made the call, in consultation with Ukraine, as a follow-up to talks in Oslo on October 20. Their stated aim was to give Putin direct messages ahead of negotiations planned in Abu Dhabi. They stressed they were speaking for their own countries, not for Europe as a whole. Stubb called the conversation “frank and substantive” and said ending the war requires direct discussion. Støre said they stressed de-escalation, and both said their support for Ukraine would continue.
The Kremlin’s account is different in emphasis. It says Putin told them a just and lasting peace is possible only if Russia’s legitimate interests are fully taken into account, and that he blamed the “confrontational policy” of the EU and NATO for prolonging the fighting. The three also discussed security in the Baltic Sea and the High North. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin repeated that Zelensky could come to Moscow, but only to sign agreements once negotiations are complete.
Reuters, citing a source close to the Kremlin, reported that Putin told the two leaders Russia would not compromise on Donbas. Neither government has confirmed this.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he had not yet seen the transcript, but that apparently no new ideas were raised. He described the call as Europe trying to squeeze itself into the talks.
Zelensky spoke to Stubb and Støre straight afterwards. He said they had told Putin clearly that real de-escalation was needed regarding Ukraine’s energy and infrastructure. Stubb said Zelensky received about a 30-minute debrief.
European opinion is split. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticised the Nordic leaders for making the call and questioned whether Russia wants peace. Poland’s Donald Tusk, by contrast, described the impression from it as moderately optimistic.
Finland and Norway both border Russia and are both NATO members. Finland joined in 2023 after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine ended decades of military non-alignment. Putin last spoke to Støre in March 2022; this was his first call ever with Stubb, who took office in 2024.
Whether the call leads anywhere depends on the Abu Dhabi talks, and even the date is disputed. Finland says they are set for early November. The Kremlin says no date has been fixed, though Ushakov has said Moscow is ready to resume after November 4.
For now, both sides have one thing they lacked last week: a working phone line.