Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has denied a report by the Financial Times claiming that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin spent almost their entire conversation giving historical explanations for the war. According to Støre, the participants spoke for roughly equal amounts of time.
Source: European Pravda, citing Støre's comments in an interview with Norwegian media outlet TV 2
Details: Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb held a phone call with Putin on Tuesday 27 October. The purpose of this call, according to them, was to explore de-escalation opportunities and establish a European channel for dialogue.
However, the Financial Times published an article stating that during the conversation, the Kremlin leader spent almost the entire time explaining the "initial reasons for the conflict" with Ukraine.
Støre flatly denies these claims.
Quote from Støre: "That is not true. And we asked the Financial Times to correct this information, as it does not correspond to reality."
Details: Støre added that Putin asked to set out his version of the current situation and, in that context, reviewed history from 2014 to the present day.
Quote from Støre: "So the claim that he gave a lecture on Slavic history is simply not true."
Details: Støre also rejected claims that Putin dominated the conversation.
Quote from Støre: "We had an hour and a half. Of course, there was an interpreter, so part of the time went to translation. Therefore, I believe the time was distributed fairly evenly. We probably spent about the same amount of time. But that was also because we set out our positions, on which we requested feedback."
Details: Norwegian newspaper VG, which contacted the Financial Times, reports that it refused to make any changes.
"We stand by our journalism," a spokesperson said.
It is noted that the FT does not wish to comment further on the matter, nor will it clarify the sources of its information.
Background: On 28 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that, following a conversation between European leaders and Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, there are indications that Russia is serious about a meeting of the negotiating teams in Abu Dhabi. The Ukrainian president added that the planned trilateral meeting of technical teams from Ukraine, Russia and the US in early November depends on the American side. The European Commission's chief spokesperson, Paula Pinho, stated that the European Commission had been informed in advance about this phone call.
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