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Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has rejected media reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin spent most of a phone call with Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb discussing medieval Slavic history. Norway has asked the Financial Times to correct its report, Norwegian broadcaster TV 2 reports.
On Tuesday, Oct. 27, Støre and Stubb held a phone call with Putin to discuss possible ways to reduce tensions and restore dialogue between Europe and Russia.
According to the Financial Times, however, the conversation did not go as the participants had expected. Citing three anonymous sources, the newspaper reported that Putin spent nearly the entire call discussing medieval Slavic history instead of focusing on peace and ways to resolve the crisis.
“That is not true. And we have asked the Financial Times to correct it, because it does not reflect what happened,” Støre said on TV 2.
The Norwegian prime minister explained that Putin had asked to present his own view of the current situation and discussed events from 2014 to the present.
“So the claim that he presented a Slavic version of history is simply false,” Støre stressed.
The call was initially expected to last just under 30 minutes but ultimately ran for about an hour and a half. Støre also rejected claims that Putin had dominated the conversation.
According to the Norwegian prime minister, the 90-minute call included interpretation, meaning both sides had roughly equal opportunities to speak.
“We probably spent roughly the same amount of time. But that was also because we were expressing views on which we had asked for a response,” Støre explained.
Meanwhile, Norwegian newspaper VG reported that it had contacted the Financial Times on Wednesday for comment. The newspaper said it had no plans to change its published article and stood by its journalistic work.
TV 2 also sought comment from Financial Times news editor Amy Austin but received no response. The broadcaster contacted the journalists who wrote the report, but they had not responded either.
The call between Støre, Stubb and Putin took place as the Nordic leaders sought ways to help end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Both described the conversation as frank and substantive. It came ahead of US-mediated peace talks expected to take place next month.
The Telegraph previously reported that the Nordic leaders said in a joint statement they had wanted to present their proposals for future negotiations directly and help bring the war to an end. However, the conversation appeared to have had little tangible impact and may have deepened divisions among European supporters of Ukraine, a development that could benefit Putin politically.
