A rare Nordic split emerged on Tuesday as the leaders of Denmark and Sweden publicly rebuked their counterparts in Finland and Norway for holding a surprise phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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The call was the initiative of Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who recently hosted a round of peace talks in Oslo.
The two leaders urged Putin to end the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and engage in meaningful negotiations to reach a stable, peaceful settlement.
“The discussion was frank and substantive,” Stubb said.
“The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussion,” he added.
“We stressed the importance of de-escalation,” Støre said.
The read-out made clear that Stubb and Støre had spoken to Putin as “leaders of their respective countries and did not speak on behalf of Europe as a whole”.
Immediately after, Stubb and Støre phoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who thanked them for their “active” support.
But the choreography did little to mitigate the backlash from their neighbours.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was highly critical, pointing to Russia’s escalation against Ukraine as evidence that Moscow is not serious about diplomacy.
The Kremlin’s statement released after the call echoed Putin’s maximalist tone.
“I am very sceptical about this independent initiative by Norway and Finland. It was not coordinated with any of us,” Frederiksen said shortly after the call became public.
“I don’t see any signs that Russia desires peace with Europe, neither in the hybrid warfare taking place every single day, nor in Ukraine.”
Frederiksen questioned the effectiveness of the overture and drew a parallel with previous go-it-alone attempts, such as when former Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orbán flew to Moscow to meet with Putin.
“I honestly don’t know what they think can be achieved by this,” she said.
“We have previously emphasise, with clear backing from the rest of Europe, that when others have gone solo and, for example, travelled to Moscow, it is crucial that we, Europeans, stand together. That is something many of us have fought for.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also cast doubt on the initiative, albeit in less harsh terms.
“My impression is that everyone wants peace except Putin. I have pretty low expectations for this kind of (direct) talk,” Kristersson said.
“Holding talks that risk splitting the European voice is risky. Now, I’m not saying they have done that at all. I don’t yet know what those talks were about,” he noted.
“Talks that make Russia more willing to make a decent peace on Ukraine’s terms are, of course, good.”
In response to the pushback, Støre said Europe should speak with Russia to complement the messages sent by the US administration, which has a different take on the war.
Stubb, Støre, Frederiksen and Kristersson were all in Helsinki, Finland, to attend a leaders-level session of the Nordic Council.
Tuesday’s political split is significant given that the four countries always see eye to eye when it comes to Russia’s war on Ukraine. They are among the largest bilateral donors to Kyiv and vocal advocates of applying ever-stronger sanctions on Moscow.
