Finland and Norway open direct talks with Putin despite criticism

Two Scandinavian leaders have broken with a long-standing Western European practice of not talking directly to Vladimir Putin. Finland's President Alexander Stubb and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre phoned the Russian President today, urging him to end the war in Ukraine. In a joint statement, Stubb said, The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen sharply criticised the initiative. I am very sceptical about this initiative, taken by Norway and Finland on their own. It has not been coordinated with any of the rest of us. I can see no sign that Russia wants peace with Europe, neither concerning the hybrid war that is taking place every single day, nor in relation to Ukraine, where they are, of course, launching fierce and aggressive attacks on a daily basis. I think we should keep Europe united, rather than going solo. Finland's president defended the phone call with Putin, saying Nordic allies as well as Ukraine's President Zelensky were briefed before and after the conversation. The discussion with President Putin was professional and direct. And we, of course, as Norway and Finland, continue to support Ukraine and work towards a lasting and just peace. The Prime Minister and I felt that it was important that... Border states like Finland and Norway would clarify issues that might lead to misunderstandings and relay direct messages from a Nordic perspective, from a Finnish perspective, and from a Norwegian perspective to the president of the Russian Federation. Let's bring in our Moscow bureau chief, Yuri Resheto, who's reporting from the Latvian capital, Riga, as DW has been banned in Russia. Now, what's the Russian side saying about how the call came about and what was discussed? Well, Gerhard, the Kremlin is keen to stress that this wasn't Moscow picking up the phone. Instead, the call was initiated by Finnish President Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Støre. As for the substance, according to the Kremlin, Putin once again talked about what he calls the root causes of the war, of the conflict. That may sound like standard diplomatic language, but in reality, it means Putin was once again Pushing the same arguments we've heard for years from him, he was essentially defending the war he started, repeating the claim that eastern Ukraine, particularly the Donbas, is somehow historically Russian territory, and arguing that NATO's eastward expansion poses a threat to Russia. So there was nothing fundamentally new here, and if Putin wanted to send one clear message, it's this. Ukrainian membership in NATO remains a complete red line for Moscow. Do you see this as a significant diplomatic push that will maybe have legs, or is it a one-off? Well, I think the Kremlin's statement after the call, Gerhard, was actually still a very hard line. Moscow accused the EU and NATO of prolonging the war, which doesn't exactly sound like a site preparing major concessions or signalling a breakthrough. But having said that, there was one line at the very end of the Kremlin's statement that stands out. Moscow said these direct phone conversations should continue that As I said, stands out because it comes just days after Putin's foreign policy advisor Ushakov suggested on Russian television that Moscow may need to engage more actively with Europeans after becoming frustrated with the lack of progress through Americans. While this is certainly not a diplomatic breakthrough, it may be more than a one-off phone call. What we are perhaps seeing is the early stage of Moscow testing a different channel, one that involves Europeans more directly in the conversation, in particular those two European politicians Stubb and Støre. That's an interesting thought, testing a new challenge. But we've heard how controversial these bilateral calls are among other European leaders. May that be part of the Kremlin's calculation? Well, I think that brings us to the political fallout inside Europe itself. I wouldn't say the Kremlin specifically set out to create tensions between the Nordic countries. In fact, Støre was criticized primarily by some of the closest neighbors, including the leaders of Denmark and Sweden, you said it. After all this cause, This call was initiated by the Europeans themselves, not by Moscow, and it's not unprecedented. We've seen direct contacts before, from Emmanuel Macron's, French President's conversation with Putin to more recent meetings between German Foreign Minister Baerbock and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in New York just a few months ago. The bigger point, though, is what Russia gains from the reaction. Most analysts agree that one of Moscow's long-term Talking about what follows, is there any concrete sign that there will be further calls or follow-up conversations? Yeah, if you zoom out, the bigger picture is that diplomatic activity appears to be picking up again on several fronts at the same time. Russia has reportedly agreed to a new trilateral format involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia after November 4th, after midterms in the United States. At the same time, discussions are underway about a separate Russia-US-China summit in a few weeks. Now we should be careful, Gerhard, not to overstate this. We still don't know how far any of these initiatives will go, and more importantly, we are not talking about a Putin-Zelensky summit, so at least not yet. What is being discussed is another round of negotiations at the level of officials and negotiators, so the mood right now seems to be not one of peace breaking out. One of cautious diplomatic movement, more phone calls, more channels opening, more exploratory contacts. But when it comes to a real end of the war, we are still a very long way from that conversation. Right now, the focus is on managing the conflict, not ending it. TWS Riga bureau chief, Yuri Reshetov there. Thank you very much, Yuri.