Norway, Finland leaders hold ‘frank’ talk with Putin on ending Ukraine war

Putin slammed EU and Nato countries in the phone call, saying their ‘confrontational’ policy was dragging out the Ukraine war

Finland’s president and Norway’s prime minister held a “frank and substantive” discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the Nordic leaders said.

“The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions,” President Alexander Stubb said in a joint statement with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

The statement noted that the phone call had been “held in consultation with Ukraine” and followed a meeting in Oslo on October 20 between Store, Stubb and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff.