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Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a call on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, signalling Europe's increasing willingness to engage directly with Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
The two leaders urged Putin to end the full-scale invasion and engage in meaningful negotiations to reach a stable, peaceful settlement.
"The discussion was frank and substantive. We are neighbouring countries of Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussion," Stubb said in a read-out.
"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," Støre said.
Norway and Finland are among the largest donors of military aid to Ukraine, a support the two leaders told Putin would continue unabated.
Security in the Baltic Sea region and the High North was also discussed.
According to the Kremlin, Putin told Stubb and Støre that "achieving a just, long-term peace is only possible with full and unconditional consideration of the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation", a wording that suggests maximalist demands.
The call was made at the initiative of the two Nordic leaders. Afterwards, they exchanged with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Alex and Jonas made it clear to the Russian leader that real de-escalatory steps are needed regarding our energy and infrastructure," Zelenskyy said, thanking them for their "active" diplomatic support.
"Russia must stop dragging out the war."
The conversation was framed as a "follow-up" to the last round of peace talks in Oslo, which Stubb and Støre jointly organised. The meeting was attended by senior officials of Ukraine, the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, the European Commission and NATO.
Russia was not included, but US special envoy Steve Witkoff flew to St Petersburg to brief Putin on the outcome of the discussions.
A new round of talks is expected to take place early next month in Abu Dhabi in a format similar to Oslo, but with the participation of the Russian delegation.
Brussels has already expressed readiness for having European and Russian officials sit at the same table, which has never happened in the context of the negotiations.
The European Commission and the European Council are working to establish a combined team to represent the EU position. The two institutions are believed to have been told in advance of the Stubb-Støre call with Putin.
The two Nordic leaders underlined that they were not acting as a special European envoy, a topic that has split countries for over a year now.
"Stubb and Støre took the call as leaders of their respective countries and did not speak on behalf of Europe as a whole," the read-out said.
In a rare sign of Nordic divide, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen quickly criticised the Stubb-Støre overture.
"I actually don't know what they think you can achieve with this," she said. "We have previously also emphasised in clear terms to the rest of Europe, when others have gone solo and travelled to Moscow, that it is important that we Europeans stand together."