The leaders of Finland and Norway have resumed direct contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss prospects for ending the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is discussing these contacts with European officials, his communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn, announced, according to Unian.
Asked whether Zelenskyy had discussed the European leaders’ conversations with Putin with the European Union, Lytvyn replied: “He is discussing it right now.”
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre initiated the phone call with the Kremlin leader. Ahead of the conversation, the two consulted with Ukraine to convey Kyiv’s messages to Putin ahead of the upcoming peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi.
Stubb and Støre stressed that the war must end, negotiations must continue, and their countries would maintain their support for Ukraine. They also highlighted the importance of de-escalating the situation.
The Finnish president described the conversation as direct and substantive, noting that the way the war ends will affect the security of Finland, Norway and Europe as a whole.
According to Bloomberg, the discussions are taking place amid intensified diplomatic efforts to revive the peace process, following US envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to St. Petersburg last week. The Office of the President of Finland clarified that Stubb and Støre spoke on behalf of their own countries, not Europe as a whole.
These conversations mark Putin’s first direct contact with senior European leaders and allies of Kyiv since his telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron in July 2025.