Finland and Norway\u2019s outreach to Moscow has rattled their allies \u2013 and may carry an unwelcome message for Kiev<\/p>\n
The phone call on Tuesday by the leaders of Finland and Norway to Russian President Vladimir Putin caught many by surprise.
\nUntil then, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who took office in early 2024, had never spoken with his Russian counterpart. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, meanwhile, had last spoken with Putin in March 2022 \u2013 more than four and a half years ago, when the Ukraine crisis, Russia\u2019s confrontation with the West, and the global geopolitical landscape looked very different.
\nBut the element of surprise was far from the only remarkable thing about this call to the Kremlin.
\nEqually striking was the pointedly conciliatory tone of Stubb\u2019s statement. Finland joined NATO shortly before he became president, then proceeded on his watch to bury its neutrality and descend into anti-Russian hysteria and paranoia.
\nThis time, Stubb sounded like a different man. He described his conversation with Putin this way: \u201cThe discussion was frank and substantive. We are neighboring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions.\u201d Store issued a similar statement, as though the two leaders had copied their carefully chosen words from each other.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Nordic call to Putin opens rift in Europe on Ukraine<\/p>\n
The biggest surprise, however \u2013 if not an outright bombshell \u2013 was Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen\u2019s revelation that the Finnish and Norwegian leaders had no mandate whatsoever to speak on behalf of their European allies.
\n\u201cI\u2019m very skeptical about this Norwegian and Finnish initiative. It hasn\u2019t been coordinated with any of the rest of us,\u201d Frederiksen warned. \u201cI honestly don\u2019t know what those two countries think they can achieve with this,\u201d she added, making little effort to conceal her frustration or irritation.\u00a0
\nStore later disputed her criticism, saying that all partners and allies had been informed ahead of the call and given a detailed briefing afterward.
\nWhich raises the question: What was this, really? A mutiny aboard the European ship, with two Nordic leaders breaking ranks with Europe\u2019s consensus-based decision-making and daring to take the initiative in talks with Moscow, going over the heads of the European bureaucracy?
\nOr was it a coordinated performance, with European leaders deliberately playing good cop and bad cop \u2013 keeping tensions with Moscow high while cautiously exploring an exit strategy, as the Ukrainian burden they can neither carry nor abandon falls apart before their eyes?<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Putin holds call with leaders of Norway, Finland \u2013 Kremlin<\/p>\n
After all, Europe\u2019s collective budget is coming apart at the seams, with every attempt to plug one hole opening another. Germany, Ukraine\u2019s biggest European donor, is grumbling ever more loudly and trying to shift the burden onto others. So far, no volunteers are in sight.
\nStill, it is too early to speak of a change in Europe\u2019s mood.
\nThat much was clear from the meeting of E5 defense ministers held in Paris the previous day. The group brings together France, Britain, Italy, Germany, and Poland.
\n\u201cOur countries share the assessment that Russia represents the most acute and long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security and stability,\u201d\u00a0read the E5 communiqu\u00e9 published by the French Defense Ministry.
\nAnd yet Stubb and Store\u2019s call to the Kremlin is a wake-up call from Europe for Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky \u2013 a loud and unwelcome one.
\nIt is a reminder to Zelensky that metal fatigue is setting in across Europe\u2019s political machinery \u2013 and that time is running out for the regime in Kiev.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Finland and Norway\u2019s outreach to Moscow has rattled their allies \u2013 and may carry an unwelcome message for Kiev The phone call on Tuesday by the leaders of Finland and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40674,"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-40673","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