Finland and Norway leaders hold a 90 minute call with Putin and urge an end to the fighting in Ukraine

Two of Russia northern neighbors picked up the phone on Tuesday, and the rest of Europe argued about whether they should have.

Stubb and Store called Putin and urged an end to the fighting in Ukraine, deescalation, and a return to negotiations. The conversation ran about 90 minutes and was the first direct contact between Putin and European leaders allied with Kyiv since July last year. Both governments said the call was coordinated with Ukraine in advance. Stubb said the outcome of the war will directly affect Finland security and the security of the wider region, and that ending the conflict requires direct discussion. Store pointed at the enormous human and material cost of the war and its effect on coming generations. After the call, the two leaders gave Zelenskiy an account of it that ran about 30 minutes. The path to the call ran through Oslo, where Stubb and Store met Zelenskiy and American envoy Steve Witkoff on October 20. Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg the next day to meet Putin, and the three countries then agreed to resume trilateral technical talks in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.

Moscow gave its own reading. The Kremlin said Putin used the call to repeat Russia long standing demands and blamed EU and NATO policies for prolonging the war. The three leaders agreed to keep direct telephone contact. No concessions were reported by any side.

The reaction inside Europe split. Denmark prime minister criticized the outreach for going ahead without broader European coordination. Helsinki and Oslo answered that they were not speaking for Europe as a whole and that both countries share a border with Russia, which gives them a direct stake in any settlement. The call went ahead while Russian strikes hit Kyiv on Tuesday, including a strike on a major bridge in the city. A humanitarian halt around Oleshky in Kherson region is running at the same time, and the Nordic leaders framed their call as preparation for the Abu Dhabi talks rather than a separate negotiation. Whether the channel produces anything beyond contact will be measured there, in November, against terms neither side has yet moved on.