The Russian president says Moscow supports restoring ties with Europe despite criticism of the Finnish-Norwegian initiative
Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed a rare phone call from the leaders of Finland and Norway, saying Moscow has always supported efforts to normalize relations with European countries.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store spoke with Putin on Tuesday, breaking with the longstanding practice among Western European leaders of avoiding direct contact with Moscow since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The initiative drew criticism from Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who questioned its effectiveness and said it had not been coordinated with European partners.
Speaking at a press conference in the Kremlin on Thursday, Putin said he welcomed dialogue with Western countries despite their military support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.
“I believe it was the right thing to do. After all, there are people in Europe who, unlike some others, do not want to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia but instead want to establish some kind of constructive dialogue,” Putin said.
He added that Russia would support “any steps aimed at restoring full-fledged and comprehensive relations” with European countries, whether through the EU as a whole or on a bilateral basis.
Putin reiterated that Russia was not seeking a broader conflict with the EU or NATO. “We do not want any war with Europe. If some of them want one, let them prepare. But they have not achieved their goal of inflicting a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia, and it is unlikely that this will be possible by 2030,” he said.
And if things go too far, there will be no winners at all. Let no one forget that.
The leaders of Norway and Finland said they had sought to convey messages directly to Putin “regarding future negotiations to help to end the war,” ahead of US-mediated Russia-Ukraine talks expected to take place in Abu Dhabi in the near future. They described the conversation as a follow-up to their meeting with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Oslo on October 20.
Norway and the Kremlin disputed a report by the British newspaper Financial Times claiming that Putin had spent much of the call lecturing his counterparts on Russian and Slavic history.
Stubb has cultivated a close relationship with US President Donald Trump, with whom he has frequently discussed the Ukraine conflict, earning him the nickname “Trump whisperer” in Western media.
The Finnish leader has also emphasized his country’s long experience of dealing with Russia. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer border with its eastern neighbor and maintained peaceful, if sometimes uneasy, relations with Moscow throughout the Cold War.
The call came amid growing tensions between Kiev and Washington after Trump lifted sanctions on Russian diesel exports and subsequently waived additional restrictions following Zelensky’s refusal to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, which Trump blamed for soaring fuel prices.
Moscow has repeatedly accused European leaders of sabotaging the 2022 peace talks with Ukraine and seeking to undermine Trump’s ongoing efforts to broker a deal.
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