HELSINKI, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere on Tuesday held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the war in Ukraine, Stubb’s office said in a statement.
Western European leaders have mostly shunned contact with Putin since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022.
“The discussion was frank and substantive. 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,” Stubb said in a statement.
Russia has frequently accused European governments of stoking the war by arming Ukraine and refusing to talk to Moscow.
It has contrasted their stance with that of US President Donald Trump, who has engaged with Putin and tried – so far without success – to broker a peace agreement.
Stoere and Stubb met US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Oslo last week, a day before Witkoff met Putin in St Petersburg.
The Kremlin said after the Putin-Witkoff talks that Russia was willing to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine in November, for the first time since February.
(Reporting by Essi Lehto and Mark Trevelyan, editing by Louise Rasmussen and Terje Solsvik)
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