How the Nordics and Baltics Fell Out Over Ukraine

TLDR News EU · published 21 h ago · found by searching “Lietuvos ginklavimasis beprasmis”

How the Nordics and Baltics Fell Out Over Ukraine

What the site found

Not propaganda · agenda: US-Russia talks decide Ukraine's fate

Belief the Pravda network pushes: Russia and the United States should negotiate Ukraine's future without Europe, while Ukraine and the West block peace and threaten Russia.

The video neutrally explains the European rift over the Finnish and Norwegian leaders' phone call with Putin and the debate over who should be Europe's mediator in Ukraine negotiations.

The video says · at 2:50 · quote checked against the transcript

“Criticism also came from officials in the Baltic states, those on NATO's eastern flank, which are generally more hawkish on Russia”

Criticism also came from officials in the Baltic states, those on NATO's eastern flank, which are generally more hawkish on Russia

It reports the call and the European reactions accurately and with balance, and it presents a European push for a seat at the table rather than the Russia-US-only framing; it does not portray Ukraine or the West as blocking peace.

The Pravda stories it echoes

Closest stories from the Pravda network, by meaning. Each links to the site’s comparison with trusted Lithuanian news.

18 days ago · Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin M low F medium 4 verified differences

16 days ago · Vladimir Putin's phone call with Scandinavian leaders split Europe — contact caused irritation in Denmark, Italy, Sweden and Lithuania, writes 'Politico', citing sources M low F medium 4 verified differences

18 days ago · G. Nausėda stated that Finland's President and Norway's PM spoke with V. Putin 'on behalf of their countries' M low F medium 3 verified differences

17 days ago · Finland and Norway initiative: how a call to Putin sparked European irritation M low F medium 5 verified differences

21 days ago · Finnish President - most promising candidate for mediator role in negotiations with Russia over Ukraine M low F low 2 verified differences

23 days ago · British media named five possible candidates for negotiator role with Russia M low F low 2 verified differences

Transcript (en, 240 lines)

0:00 In early October, the leaders of Finland

0:01 and Norway held a direct phone call with

0:04 Russian President Vladimir Putin. The

0:06 official aim of which was to convey

0:07 messages directly to President Putin

0:10 regarding future negotiations to help

0:12 end the war. While the call was prepared

0:14 in consultation with both the Ukrainian

0:16 president Vladimir Zalinski and US

0:19 special envoy Steve Wickoff, it caused

0:21 some constonnation in Europe and was

0:23 criticized by Denmark, Estonia, and

0:25 Lithuania, who suggested it undermined

0:27 European unity and was unlikely to

0:30 achieve much. More broadly though, the

0:32 callers reignited a long-running debate

0:34 in Europe over who should become

0:36 Europe's primary mediator over the

0:38 conflict in Ukraine. This week, Zalinsky

0:40 called on Europe to choose a single

0:42 representative by the end of this month,

0:44 but ideally at a coalition of the

0:45 willing summit next Thursday. So, in

0:48 this video, we'll explain the quiet

0:50 riffs between the Nordics and Baltics,

0:53 why negotiating with Putin has become

0:55 such a divisive issue, and who might

0:57 become Europe's negotiator in chief.

1:06 We sometimes make mistakes in our

1:08 videos, and when we do, we think it's

1:10 really important for us to be as open

1:11 and transparent as possible. That's why

1:13 we have a bi-weekly podcast called The

1:15 Editorial. We respond to your

1:16 criticisms, answer your questions, and

1:18 explain what we got wrong. Watch the

1:20 show by clicking the link in the

1:21 description. We'll start by explaining

1:23 what this rift is all about.

1:25 Essentially, in late October, the

1:27 leaders of two Nordic countries, Norway

1:29 center-left Prime Minister, Yunas Gara

1:31 and Finland centerright President

1:33 Alexander Stub, held a phone call with

1:35 Putin, which they used to quote, "Convey

1:38 messages directly regarding future

1:40 negotiations." Stub said that an end to

1:42 the war would not be achieved through

1:44 silence and that their call had put the

1:46 peace process back on track. Afterwards,

1:49 Russia's foreign minister, Sergey

1:50 Lavrov, played down the importance of

1:52 the call, telling a panel of African

1:54 news editors, "It seems nothing new was

1:56 discussed," and adding, "This just shows

1:58 the Europeans's desire to insert

2:00 themselves into the negotiating

2:02 process." At the same time, Lavough said

2:04 that the war will continue and even, I

2:07 will say, is likely to escalate, while

2:09 Putin said that the call was the right

2:11 thing to do. Inside Europe, the call

2:13 went down particularly badly with other

2:15 Nordic leaders and the Baltic states.

2:18 Denmark center left prime minister Meta

2:20 Friedrien accused Stub and Stoa of going

2:22 solo and said that she's very skeptical

2:25 about this Norwegian and Finnish

2:27 initiative. I honestly don't know what

2:29 those two countries think they can

2:30 achieve with this. She also said I see

2:32 no signs that Russia desires peace with

2:35 Europe. I believe that we should keep

2:37 Europe united rather than going it

2:39 alone. Similarly, Sweden's center-right

2:41 Prime Minister Ulf Christensen said that

2:43 he had quote rather low expectations for

2:46 these kinds of talks, saying, "My view

2:48 is that everyone wants peace except

2:50 Putin." Criticism also came from

2:53 officials in the Baltic states, those on

2:55 NATO's eastern flank, which are

2:57 generally more hawkish on Russia, with

2:59 Lithuania's foreign minister, Castutus

3:01 Budrris, saying that quote, "Engaging

3:03 with Putin one by one has never worked

3:06 for Europe and that any contact with

3:08 Russia should be backed by a united

3:10 position." While Marco Mikkelson,

3:12 chairman of Estonia's foreign affairs

3:14 committee, said that the call with Putin

3:16 had caused a small crack in Nordic

3:18 Baltic unity. For their part, Stub and

3:21 Stura were careful not to portray

3:23 themselves as speaking on behalf of

3:24 Europe. Stura explicitly said, "We have

3:27 not set out to speak on behalf of anyone

3:29 other than ourselves." And in response

3:31 to criticism that neither country had

3:33 informed the rest of Europe beforehand,

3:35 he told Politico, "We consult with each

3:37 other in the Nordic family. But it is

3:39 not a mechanism which requires a yes

3:41 from all the Nordics or from 27

3:44 Europeans or beyond." So why is this

3:46 apparently such a big deal? Why

3:48 shouldn't the leaders of Norway and

3:50 Finland be able to call Putin if they

3:52 want to, especially if it has the

3:53 support of both Ukraine and the US?

3:56 Well, essentially this issue has revived

3:58 a long-running debate inside Europe. How

4:00 to deal with Putin. There's basically

4:02 two camps here. Those who believe that

4:04 Putin is an imperialist dictator who

4:06 isn't to be negotiated with, and those

4:08 who argue that any peace deal over the

4:10 war in Ukraine will realistically

4:12 involve talking to Putin. For context,

4:15 early this year around February March

4:17 time, some European leaders, most

4:19 notably French President Emanuel Maccron

4:20 and Belgium's Prime Minister Bart DVA

4:23 began suggesting that the EU should

4:24 negotiate directly with Russia. Deva

4:27 argued that as well as ending the

4:28 conflict in Ukraine, Europe needed to

4:30 restore access to cheap energy, while

4:32 Macron saw it as a way to give the EU

4:35 more control over negotiations rather

4:37 than leaving it all to the US. Over the

4:39 following weeks and months, several big

4:41 names were floated as potential European

4:43 mediators. From former German Chancellor

4:45 Angler Merkel, who rejected the idea, to

4:48 the former Italian Prime Minister Mario

4:50 Draghi, who was later ruled out by

4:52 Italy's current prime minister, Georgia

4:54 Maloney, to the EU's foreign affairs

4:56 chief, Kaakalis, a former Estonian prime

4:59 minister who's popular in the Baltics,

5:01 but deemed too hawkish on Russia in

5:03 Western Europe. More pertinently,

5:05 Finnish President Alexander Stub has

5:07 also been floated for the role of

5:08 Europe's negotiator and chief. According

5:11 to three European diplomats speaking to

5:12 Blitzo, Sto would be a sensible option

5:15 for two main reasons. One, his close

5:17 relationship with Donald Trump. The two

5:19 play golf together at Maraago and Trump

5:21 claimed in October 2025 that the pair

5:23 had been friends for a long time. And

5:25 two, Finland's strong understanding of

5:27 Russia, a relationship that has involved

5:29 centuries of strategic friction and

5:31 territorial conflict. Moreover, Stub has

5:34 a personal background in international

5:35 affairs and diplomacy and has rare good

5:37 relations with all three of Zalinski,

5:40 Trump and Putin, whom he very recently

5:43 described as a very perceptive, very

5:45 analytical, and very wellprepared. In

5:48 this light, however, the stub store

5:50 phone call looks less of an innocent way

5:51 of judging Putin's state of mind and

5:54 more like a calculated effort to

5:55 position Stub as the voice of Europe.

5:57 This is why the phone call caused such a

5:59 rift inside Europe and shows how

6:02 settling on a single European mediator

6:04 will be politically difficult. Poland

6:06 and the Baltics, for instance, will

6:07 probably prefer a more hawkish figure

6:09 like Callus, while Western European

6:11 countries would plump for someone like

6:13 Stub or Macron who have shown leadership

6:16 on international issues before. as well

6:18 as those intraEU geographic divisions.

6:21 There are also questions about whether a

6:23 non-EU figure either from a non-EU

6:25 country like Norway or a retired

6:27 politician like Merkel or Draghi would

6:30 be a better choice given that the

6:32 conflict affects Europe, the continent,

6:34 and not just the EU. Ultimately, this

6:37 debate has dragged on for almost a year

6:39 now, prompting Zilinsky to basically

6:40 tell Europe to get a move on and choose

6:42 a single representative. This week

6:44 during a trip to Denmark, Silinsky told

6:46 reporters, "I think that in November,

6:49 not later, we need to accept who will

6:51 represent Europe in negotiations." He

6:53 also said a single representative from

6:55 Europe at peace talks would be better

6:57 than the continent just presenting their

6:59 answers to Ukraine. More specifically,

7:01 Zilinsky said that he hopes to see a

7:03 decision in Germany on the 19th, next

7:05 Thursday, when there's a meeting of the

7:07 coalition of the willing. So, we'll have

7:09 to keep an eye on this to see whether

7:10 Europe can finally speak as one. If

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