Finnish and Norwegian leaders spoke with Putin by phone about ending war in Ukraine

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin, the Finnish president’s office said.The statement said the call was ”a follow-up of the meeting in Oslo on 20 October.” That day, the Norwegian capital hosted talks between Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and representatives of Ukraine.Stubb and Støre initiated the call to discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts to end the war and promote peace and stability in Europe.The statement from the Finnish president’s office said the purpose of the call was to directly convey to President Putin Ukraine’s position on the upcoming peace talks in Abu Dhabi.On October 20, a meeting was held in Oslo between Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Finnish President Alexander Stubb also took part. After this meeting, Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg, where he met with Putin — then he returned to Oslo and flew to the U.S. from there. Following these talks, the parties agreed to hold a new trilateral meeting between Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine. It will take place after November 4 (that is, after the U.S. midterm elections) in Abu Dhabi.After this latest stage in the return to peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, European countries began looking for a representative who could take part on the EU’s behalf. Among the candidates for this role, The Telegraph named Stubb and Støre, as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Czech President Petr Pavel, and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.