Nordic Leaders Urge Putin to End Ukraine War
Finnish and Norwegian leaders held a substantive call with Vladimir Putin to push for de-escalation ahead of November peace talks in Abu Dhabi.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 27 to urge an end to the invasion of Ukraine. The Nordic leaders, acting as representatives of their own nations rather than European envoys, described the discussion as "frank and substantive" and stressed the high human and material costs of the conflict.
Vladimir Putin responded that a just and lasting peace is only possible if Russia's "legitimate interests" are fully and unconditionally taken into account. He further criticized the "confrontational policies" of NATO and the European Union. Despite these tensions, the leaders agreed to maintain direct contact and welcomed the resumption of trilateral peace talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, scheduled for early November in Abu Dhabi.
The diplomatic outreach followed an October 20 meeting in Oslo involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff. While the Nordic leaders maintained that military aid to Ukraine would continue, they coordinated the call with Kyiv. Following the conversation, Stubb and Støre briefed President Zelenskyy on the outcome.
Simultaneously, a localized ceasefire took effect in Oleshky, Kherson region, to facilitate a humanitarian aid mission brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia called the truce the most significant de-escalation since 2022. However, the local truce coincided with widespread Russian ballistic missile and drone attacks across 11 Ukrainian regions, which killed at least three civilians.
