A joint phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Finland and Norway failed to produce a breakthrough on an immediate halt to the war in Ukraine. During the conversation, Putin rejected proposals for an immediate ceasefire and reiterated that any lasting peace settlement requires the full capture of the Donbas region, according to a source close to the Kremlin. The call, which was originally scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted roughly 90 minutes as Putin reportedly lectured the Nordic leaders on the root causes of the conflict and NATO expansion.
The outreach, initiated by Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, was intended to relay messages from Kyiv ahead of a technical-level trilateral meeting between Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine planned for November in Abu Dhabi. While the Nordic leaders said the call was coordinated with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the move drew criticism from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who questioned the lack of coordination with wider European allies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later dismissed the talk, stating that the Nordic leaders offered “nothing new” regarding the conflict.