Finland and Norway leaders call Putin before Abu Dhabi talks

Key takeaways

• Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a joint phone call with Vladimir Putin from Helsinki on Tuesday, Oct 27, 2026.
• Both governments said the call was made in consultation with Ukraine and was linked to US-mediated talks planned in Abu Dhabi in early November.
• It is the first direct contact between Putin and a leader of one of Kyiv's European allies since French President Emmanuel Macron's call in July 2025, according to The Moscow Times and The National.
• The Kremlin said Putin repeated his view of the war's "root causes" and criticised EU and NATO policy; the three leaders agreed to keep direct phone contact.
• Denmark's prime minister said she was "very sceptical" of what she called a solo initiative.

Finland and Norway leaders call Putin: what happened

The leaders of Finland and Norway spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on Tuesday, Oct 27, in a rare direct call aimed at passing messages about future Ukraine peace negotiations, according to the Finnish presidency.

Stubb and Støre made the call together from Helsinki. A statement published by the Office of the President of Finland said the conversation covered Russia's war against Ukraine and diplomatic efforts to end it, and that it was connected to upcoming meetings in Abu Dhabi. The statement described the call as a follow-up to a meeting in Oslo on Oct 20.

The two leaders stressed that they were speaking for their own countries, not for Europe as a whole, and that Finnish and Norwegian support for Ukraine will continue. Stubb said that "Ending the war requires direct discussions," and described the conversation as "frank and substantive," according to The National. Støre's office said: "In the call we stressed the importance of de-escalation."

The Finnish statement also said the leaders raised stability in the Baltic Sea region and the High North, two areas where Finland and Norway share long borders and maritime space with Russia.

What the Kremlin and Kyiv said

Moscow confirmed the call shortly after Helsinki and Oslo released their statements. According to the Kremlin readout reported by The Moscow Times, Putin "reiterated the root causes" of the full-scale invasion and "drew attention to the confrontational policies of EU and NATO member states," which he said prolong the fighting. The Kremlin said the three leaders discussed security in the Baltic Sea and Northern Europe and agreed to stay in direct contact.

The National reported that the Kremlin also said a just and lasting peace was possible only if Russia's "legitimate interests" were fully taken into account.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Stubb and Støre after the call. He said the two leaders told Putin that real steps were needed to de-escalate attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities and infrastructure, and that they discussed preparations for the November talks, Al Jazeera reported. "There must be peace, de-escalation is needed, and Russia must stop dragging out the war," Zelensky wrote.

Timeline of the diplomatic push

Reaction in Europe

Not every ally welcomed the move. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the broadcaster TV2 that the call had not been coordinated with other European leaders and that she was "very sceptical" of what she called a solo initiative by Norway and Finland, The National reported. As of 14:30 UTC on Oct 27, no formal reaction from the European Commission had been reported in the sources reviewed.

The call came on the same day Russia struck Kyiv overnight. Kyiv officials said the attack involved 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones and hit the city's South Bridge, Al Jazeera reported. Russia's Defence Ministry said it targeted transport infrastructure. A separate, localised ceasefire also took effect on Tuesday in the Kherson region to let aid reach the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky.

What we know and what we don't know yet

Known: who took part, that the call was coordinated with Kyiv, the main messages each side published, and that it was tied to the Abu Dhabi talks.

Not yet known: how long the call lasted, the exact time it took place, whether Putin gave any commitment on energy-infrastructure strikes, and whether other European leaders will follow with their own calls. Neither government published a transcript.

Background

Most Western European leaders have avoided direct contact with Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Macron's call in July 2025 was the last such contact by a leader of a Kyiv ally before Tuesday, according to The Moscow Times.

Both Finland and Norway are NATO members that share a land border with Russia, Norway's in the Arctic north. That geography is why Stubb framed the war's outcome as a direct security issue: "We are neighbouring countries to Russia," he said, according to The National.

US-mediated talks between Kyiv and Moscow stalled in February. The Oslo meeting and Witkoff's visit to St Petersburg the following day revived the track, leading to the agreement on technical meetings in Abu Dhabi. More coverage is collected on our Ukraine, Russia and Vladimir Putin topic pages.

What it means

The call gives the Nordic pair a direct channel to the Kremlin just before the Abu Dhabi round, and both sides agreed to keep it open. Its practical weight is still unclear: the Kremlin readout repeated long-standing positions, and the only concrete ask made public, an easing of strikes on Ukraine's energy grid, has no reported Russian answer yet.

The Danish criticism shows the risk for European unity. Finland and Norway insisted they spoke only for themselves, but any perception of separate channels to Moscow could complicate coordination among Kyiv's backers. The next test is whether the Abu Dhabi meetings go ahead in early November and whether attacks on Ukrainian energy sites ease before then.