Norway’s prime minister defended on Wednesday a three-way call with Vladimir Putin and Finland’s president, saying it was intended to ensure the Russian leader heard European as well as US views.
– Tuesday’s call between Russia’s Putin, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian premier Jonas Gahr Stoere broke a longstanding practice among Western European leaders of shunning direct contact with the Kremlin, and was criticised by allies including Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen.
– The 90-minute call came ahead of what are expected to be the first face-to-face talks since February between Ukrainian and Russian officials, in Abu Dhabi next month.
– “We (Stubb and I) were focused on looking forward, what must happen for this war to not continue endlessly for months, with people dying … and it is even more difficult to find a solution,” Stoere told public broadcaster NRK.
– “I don’t think (Putin) will change his mind, but he gets to hear our position very clearly. I am worried that some of these messages do not reach him when the Americans talk to him,” he said.
– Norway, said Stoere, was keen to introduce de-escalation steps such as stopping attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine, halting strikes on ships exporting Ukrainian grain and conducting prisoner-of-war exchanges.
– Asked whether there could be peace without Ukraine ceding territory, Stoere said: “Today Russia controls nearly 20% (of Ukrainian territory). Ukraine will never sign a deal that recognises that they have lost territory, but whether they can take the current frontline as a reality and as a starting point, that is a different question.”
– “And the big question is what kind of security guarantees can there be for the country (Ukraine) after a peace deal? Putin recognises that this is the big question.”
– Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Tuesday’s call offered nothing new on the Ukraine conflict, and that European countries were simply seeking a role in the negotiation process.