Storre Disputes Financial Times Account of Putin Phone Call

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storre rejected a Financial Times account of a recent telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Storre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb spoke with Putin on Tuesday, October 27. The leaders stated that their primary goal was to explore options for de-escalation and to create a European channel for dialogue.

The Financial Times later reported that Putin spent nearly the entire duration of the call explaining what it termed the initial reasons for the conflict with Ukraine. In an interview with Norwegian broadcaster TV 2, Storre said that description did not match reality. He stated that his team had asked the newspaper to correct the information.

Storre explained that Putin requested time to present his version of current events. The Russian leader reviewed developments from 2014 through the present day. Storre argued this was not a historical lecture. He said the claim that Putin delivered a lecture on Slavic history was simply not true.

The prime minister also denied that Putin dominated the discussion. He noted the call lasted one and a half hours and that an interpreter was present. Translation accounted for part of that time. Storre said he believed the time was distributed fairly evenly between the participants. He added that both sides likely used about the same amount of time because the European leaders laid out their positions and asked for responses.

The Norwegian newspaper VG contacted the Financial Times regarding the dispute. The paper declined to make changes. A spokesperson for the Financial Times said the outlet stands by its journalism. The newspaper did not wish to comment further and will not clarify its sources.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 28 that the conversation provided indications Russia was serious about a meeting of negotiating teams in Abu Dhabi. He stated that a planned trilateral meeting of technical teams from Ukraine, Russia and the United States in early November depends on the American side. Paula Pinho, the European Commission's chief spokesperson, said the Commission had been informed in advance about the phone call.