Finnish, Norwegian leaders call Putin before peace talks

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a joint phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, October 27. The two leaders said the aim was to pass messages directly to Putin about upcoming peace negotiations, according to a statement published by the Norwegian government. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy then spoke with both leaders about the call, a Zelenskyy aide told reporters, according to Reuters reporting carried by Devdiscourse.unn.ua+1

Western European leaders have mostly avoided contact with Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Reuters noted. Bloomberg, which first reported that the call was being planned, said the last comparable contact was French President Emmanuel Macron's call with Putin in July 2025, according to E24.reuters.com+1

A Message Before Abu Dhabi

Stubb and Støre made the call from Helsinki. The two leaders initiated it, and it followed up on an October 20 meeting in Oslo. It was "held in consultation with Ukraine" and was tied to upcoming meetings in Abu Dhabi, the joint statement said. Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. negotiators are set to meet there in early November, Yle reported. The two leaders spoke for their own countries, not for Europe as a whole.regjeringen.no+1

"The discussion was frank and substantive," Stubb said. "We are neighbouring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions," he added. Støre said they stressed the need for de-escalation and warned that the war's suffering and destruction "will impact generations," according to the statement. Both leaders also said Finland and Norway would keep supporting Ukraine and that negotiations must resume.politico.eu+1

Before the call was confirmed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would neither confirm nor deny that it would take place, APA reported. Støre missed the start of a Nordic prime ministers' meeting in Helsinki on Tuesday morning, and Norway's development minister went in his place, E24 reported.e24.no+1

Renewed U.S.-Led Diplomacy

The call follows a week of diplomacy led by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. On October 20, Witkoff met Zelenskyy, Stubb and Støre in Oslo, and the next day he met Putin in St. Petersburg, Reuters reported. Afterward, Peskov said the talks would take place "in the first half of November in Abu Dhabi" in a trilateral format, Africanews reported. It would be the first round since talks stalled early this year.africanews.com+1

Meduza reported that the Abu Dhabi meeting would come after November 4, following the U.S. midterm elections, and that the call was meant to convey Ukraine's position on the talks directly to Putin, according to Meduza. After the Oslo meeting, Støre told Norwegian broadcaster NRK, "I think we're perhaps over in a new phase where the Russians are also looking for opportunities for diplomacy," News in English reported.meduza.io+1