Putin Plans Ukraine Talks With Finnish, Norwegian Leaders

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, in a call initiated by the Nordic leaders and held in consultation with Ukraine. They discussed Russia’s war, diplomatic efforts to end it and de-escalation, with Stubb highlighting the conflict’s implications for European security. The call followed an Oslo meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, and came ahead of expected U.S.-Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi in November. Finland and Norway said the leaders spoke for their own countries, not for Europe as a whole.