Denmark has criticized Finland and Norway for reopening dialogue with Moscow as Kiev\u2019s European backers struggle to agree on diplomacy<\/p>\n
A phone call with the leaders of Finland and Norway\u2019s with Russian President Vladimir Putin has exposed divisions among Ukraine\u2019s European backers. Denmark criticized the initiative and Sweden complained that it had received no advance notice.
\nFinnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store contacted Putin on Tuesday ahead of renewed Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi next month. The leaders discussed efforts to resolve the conflict, as well as security and stability in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea.
\nMost Western European leaders have shunned direct contact with Moscow since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, but now appear to be desperately seeking a seat at the negotiations table. Both Stubb and Store have been named as potential candidates to represent Brussels at the talks, but neither spoke on Europe\u2019s behalf during Tuesday\u2019s call.
\nFollowing the conversation, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused her Nordic colleagues of breaking ranks, saying she was \u201cvery skeptical about this Norwegian-Finnish initiative\u201d because it had \u201cnot been coordinated with the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Putin holds call with leaders of Norway, Finland \u2013 Kremlin<\/p>\n
Frederiksen said Europe should stick together rather than go solo, doubting anything can be achieved through unilateral contacts with Moscow.
\nHer opposition to the diplomatic initiative comes as Copenhagen is backing Kiev\u2019s efforts to expand its weapons production to Danish soil. Ukrainian arms manufacturer Fire Point plans to build a missile-fuel factory in Denmark.
\nSwedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also lamented that he had not been informed of the call to Putin beforehand and said he had \u201cpretty low expectations for this kind of conversation.\u201d
\nWestern leaders have repeatedly faced backlash for contacting Putin or advocating direct talks with Moscow. Earlier this year, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever sparked a wave of backlash from his colleagues after arguing that Europe\u2019s strategy of arming Kiev and sanctioning Russia had failed, leaving negotiations as the only viable option.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Kremlin comments on EU\u2019s Ukraine negotiator quandary<\/p>\n
His comments elicited an immediate retort by EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas, who has consistently dragged the bloc down the warpath with Russia. She argued that normalizing ties with Moscow would lead to \u201cmore wars.\u201d De Wever\u2019s own foreign minister also described the move as \u201ca signal of weakness.\u201d
\nIn 2024, then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also accused of opening a \u201cPandora\u2019s box\u201d by calling Putin, with Estonia and other Baltic states decrying contacts with Moscow a \u201cstrategic mistake.\u201d
\nRussian officials have repeatedly accused European governments of prolonging the conflict and obstructing a settlement while demanding a place at the negotiating table. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in March that the EU had \u201ccompletely discredited itself\u201d\u00a0as a mediator, citing its failure to uphold previous agreements and its support for deploying Western troops in Ukraine.
\nMoscow has nevertheless expressed willingness to engage with a European representative committed to negotiations. On Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a negotiator from Brussels would be welcome, but stressed that such a person would need to be \u201csomeone genuinely committed to facilitating a peaceful settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Denmark has criticized Finland and Norway for reopening dialogue with Moscow as Kiev\u2019s European backers struggle to agree on diplomacy A phone call with the leaders of Finland and Norway\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t