Putin’s Call With Finland and Norway: Three Readouts Compared
In a 90-minute Putin call, Finland’s Stubb and Norway’s Støre pressed for talks. We compare the three official readouts and the European backlash.
HELSINKI, Oct. 28, 2026 — Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for about 90 minutes on Oct. 27. The Putin call was a rare direct contact between Western leaders and the Kremlin, and it split the Nordic countries in public. The three governments each published a readout. Read side by side, they show how differently each side presented it.
This article compares the official texts, sets the call in the sequence of talks leading to Abu Dhabi, and assesses why the reaction in Europe was so sharp. Battlefield and ceasefire details are in our Oct. 28 Ukraine war report.
Three readouts, one call
Finland’s Office of the President and Norway’s Office of the Prime Minister issued an almost identical joint text. The Kremlin’s readout differs in emphasis on nearly every point.
| Topic | Finland and Norway | Kremlin |
|---|---|---|
| Who asked for the call | “Stubb and Støre initiated the call,” held “in consultation with Ukraine.” | “At the request of the Finnish and Norwegian sides.” No mention of Ukraine’s consultation. |
| How the war is described | “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.” | “The Ukraine crisis” and “the Ukraine conflict zone.” |
| Purpose | To convey messages “directly regarding future negotiations.” | “An exchange of views,” framed around Putin’s Oct. 21 talks with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. |
| Abu Dhabi talks | The call “was related to the upcoming meetings.” | The parties “welcomed” trilateral talks “in early to mid November.” |
| Conditions for peace | “The war must end and negotiations resume.” | Peace only if Russia’s interests are “considered in full and without any conditions attached.” |
| Who is blamed | Not stated. | “The EU and NATO’s confrontational policies.” |
| Baltic and Arctic security | A shared interest in stability in the Baltic Sea and the High North. | The Nordic leaders “reaffirmed… the freedom of navigation.” |
| Ukraine support | Finland and Norway “will continue their longstanding support.” | Not mentioned. |
| Next steps | Not stated. | “Agreed to maintain direct telephone contact.” |
Two items appear in only one version. The Nordic text stresses that the two leaders “did not speak on the behalf of Europe as a whole.” The Kremlin text says Putin briefed them on a U.S.-mediated humanitarian operation near the occupied town of Oleshky, which Russia calls Alyoshki, and a temporary ceasefire in the Kherson sector.
How the call fits the road to Abu Dhabi
| Date (2026) | Step |
|---|---|
| Oct. 20 | Stubb and Støre meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo; the Kremlin readout says they also had contacts with Witkoff there. |
| Oct. 21 | Witkoff meets Putin in St. Petersburg. |
| Oct. 27 | The Stubb–Støre call with Putin; the two leaders then phone Zelensky. |
| Early to mid November | Planned U.S.–Ukraine–Russia talks in Abu Dhabi. |
Both sides tied the call to the Oslo meeting, which we covered in our Oct. 20 report. Witkoff’s meeting with Putin is in our Oct. 21 report.
The European backlash
Denmark and Sweden criticized the call in public, at the Nordic Council session in Helsinki. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters she was “very sceptical about this independent initiative by Norway and Finland. It was not coordinated with any of us,” Euronews reported. She compared it with former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s trip to Moscow. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said: “Holding talks that risk splitting the European voice is risky,” while adding that talks making Russia more willing to accept “a decent peace on Ukraine’s terms are, of course, good.”
The Baltic response focused on leverage. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote that “any contact with Russia must be backed by a united position, real leverage and a list of European demands.” An EU spokesperson said the bloc “take[s] note of the call, which took place solely on a bilateral basis,” Anadolu reported.
Zelensky defended the two leaders. “Here, though, everything is completely out in the open: discussions in advance, a full briefing, and transparent objectives,” he said, according to Politico Europe. He said other Europeans had also been in contact with Russia: “They just haven’t done so as openly as the leaders of Norway and Finland.” An Italian government official told Politico that Europe “cannot continue to act randomly and in formats that change from week to week.”
Analysis: a second channel, and a test of European unity
The readouts show the limits of the call more clearly than any comment did. The Kremlin text repeats Moscow’s standing terms: Russia’s interests met “in full,” blame placed on the EU and NATO, and no reference to aggression. Nothing in it suggests a change in position. What Moscow did accept is a format: a standing phone line with two leaders from countries that border Russia, are NATO members and arm Ukraine. The commitment to “maintain direct telephone contact” appears only in the Russian text, so its value to Helsinki and Oslo is not yet clear.
For Finland and Norway, the logic is geographic. Together they share about 1,540 kilometers of border with Russia, and both have direct stakes in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic. Støre argued that Europe should talk to Russia to complement Washington’s messages, as Euronews reported. Zelensky’s support removes the strongest objection, that the call went around Kyiv. Both Nordic readouts say it was held in consultation with Ukraine.
The backlash, though, exposes a problem that predates this call: Europe has no agreed representative for the Abu Dhabi process. Denmark and Sweden objected to the method rather than the goal, and Rome used the moment to demand a shared European envoy. If the trilateral talks go ahead in November without one, ad hoc channels like this one are likely to multiply. That would weaken the united front the EU says it maintains. The call’s real test is whether its messages show up in Abu Dhabi.
What to watch
- Whether the Abu Dhabi talks are fixed for a date in November, and who attends for Europe.
- Any second Stubb–Støre call with Putin, which the Kremlin readout points toward.
- EU moves to name a joint envoy or format for talks with Russia.
- Whether the Oleshky ceasefire named in the Kremlin text holds.
Sources
- Office of the President of Finland: Stubb and Støre held a phone call with Putin (Oct. 27, 2026)
- Government of Norway, Office of the Prime Minister: Call with President Putin (Oct. 27, 2026)
- President of Russia: Telephone conversation with Stubb and Støre (Oct. 27, 2026)
Additional sources
- Euronews: Putin call pits Finland and Norway against Denmark and Sweden (Oct. 27, 2026)
- Politico Europe: Zelenskyy defends leaders of Finland and Norway over Putin talks (Oct. 28, 2026)
- Anadolu Agency: EU stresses unity after Finnish, Norwegian leaders’ call with Putin (Oct. 27, 2026)
