Overview
- The phone call, which took place Tuesday, saw Finnish president Alexander Stubb and Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre speak directly with Vladimir Putin and describe the exchange as frank but marked by large disagreements.
- Stubb and Støre said they consulted Ukraine before the outreach and spoke in their own names, and Kyiv then held a follow-up phone discussion with the two Nordic leaders.
- The Kremlin used the call to restate Moscow’s position that any lasting peace must account for Russian interests and demanded Ukrainian troop withdrawals from parts of Donetsk, and all three sides agreed to keep direct telephone contacts going.
- On the ground a limited humanitarian ceasefire around Olechky held to allow aid deliveries and evacuations, offering short-term relief to residents who have faced food and medicine shortages.
- The talks come as shifts in wider diplomacy — including recent US‑Russia energy dealings and planned Moscow‑Kyiv‑Washington negotiations in November — raise the chance of more contact with Moscow but make an immediate comprehensive settlement unlikely.