Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Stere called "untrue" the Financial Times report that Russian President Vladimir Putin devoted most of the conversation with him and Finnish President Alexander Stubb to "medieval Slavic history." He stated this to the Norwegian newspaper VG.
"We have asked the Financial Times to correct this because it is not true. And they will fix it because we participated in the conversation," Stere said. Earlier on NRK, the prime minister explained that Putin was talking about the situation in Europe after 2014.
The Secretary of State of the Norwegian Prime Minister's office, Bhanuja Rasia, clarified to VG that Finland appealed to FT on behalf of both countries.
However, FT refused to make changes.
"We confirm our publication," a representative of the publication said in response to a request from VG.
A telephone conversation between Putin, Stubb and The stere was held on October 27. FT, citing three interlocutors familiar with the content of the conversation, claimed that the Russian president could talk about "medieval Slavic history."
According to the Kremlin, in a conversation on October 27, Putin outlined an assessment of the situation in the conflict zone, recalled its root causes and stressed that long-term peace is possible only if Russia's legitimate interests are taken into account. The interlocutors also welcomed the agreement to resume trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November.
Stere previously called the 90-minute conversation meaningful and professional, while noting the significant differences between the parties. According to him, the conversation will become the basis for future negotiations in the UAE. The Norwegian Prime Minister also confirmed the agreement to continue direct contacts.
Stubb explained the initiative of the call by fears for the fate of the peace talks and calls for European countries to participate more actively in diplomatic efforts.
"We had a strong feeling that the peace talks were failing," he said.
According to the Finnish president, the conversation was coordinated with Kiev and Washington, and the Russian side was given messages from Ukraine.
The Office of the President of Finland clarified that Stubb and Stere spoke on behalf of their states, and not the whole of Europe. In addition to the Ukrainian settlement, the participants of the conversation discussed stability in the Baltic Sea region and on The Far North.