Finnish and Norwegian leaders hold rare ‘frank and substantive’ call with Putin on Ukraine – Europe live

Stubb and Støre are now reportedly briefing Ukraine’s Zelenskyy on their talks, according to AFP. Oh, that’s interesting. There were some rumours making rounds this morning that the Finnish president Alexander Stubb and Norway’s Jonas Gahr Støre, who hosted the US-Ukrainian talks in Oslo last week, may have been active again. And we now have a formal confirmation: the pair spoke on the phone with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to discuss the latest on Ukraine. Their call was “a follow-up” to the Oslo meeting, Stubb’s office said in a statement, as the Nordic pair wants to advance their diplomatic efforts to end the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “Finland and Norway border Russia. They are firm supporters of Ukraine. The aim of the call was to convey messages directly regarding future negotiations to help to end the war to President Putin. The call was related to the upcoming meetings to be held in Abu Dhabi,” the statement read. The trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the US in Abu Dhabi are expected in early November. “Norway and Finland have always promoted peace and security in our region. The two countries have a shared interest in stability and predictability in the Baltic Sea region and the High North. This was highlighted in the call.” Curiously, the statement noted that “Stubb and Støre took the call as leaders of their respective countries and did not speak on the behalf of Europe as a whole.” Reacting after the call, Stubb called the discussions “frank and substantive,” saying that “ending the war requires direct discussions” with Russia. “The war comes with enormous human and material costs. The suffering and destruction will impact generations. In the call we stressed the importance of de-escalation”, Norway’s Støre added. The head of Ukraine’s president Zelenskyy’s office, Kyrylo Budanov, has confirmed that the ceasefire in Oleshky is in operation. “Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has headed to the site and will be responsible for coordinating the process. We are in constant contact with him. It is critically important that this mission to rescue our people be carried out successfully and safely. I am sincerely grateful to everyone involved in carrying out and supporting this operation. Every Ukrainian life is priceless.” Russia and Ukraine have started a localised ceasefire to allow for ⁠a humanitarian operation to begin in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, but Russian strikes continued in other parts of the country, including Kyiv. Overnight, Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones, with at least 15 people injured in Kyiv, with further attacks in the Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, Sumy, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia regions. “A serious escalation in Russia’s operation against our logistics. Almost everywhere, Russia’s targets were the energy sector, logistics, and ordinary urban infrastructure,” Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said. He added that “the artificial and prolonged delays in the delivery of interceptor packages for Patriot and Nasams systems … are directly helping Russia achieve the objectives of its terrorist campaign.” “Every such delay means another Russian strike on one facility or another. Unfortunately, strikes are taking place every day. Russia is constantly taking new steps toward escalation.” I will also be looking at the latest updates from Serbia after Sunday’s parliamentary elections, France after last night’s proposals seeking to end student protests, and elsewhere. It’s Tuesday, 27 October 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live. Good morning.