Putin lectured Nordic leaders on Russian history during latest call, FT reports

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a lengthy lecture on medieval Slavic history to the leaders of Norway and Finland during an Oct. 27 phone call, offering little mention of an immediate ceasefire despite renewed diplomatic efforts to end Moscow's war in Ukraine, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

According to three sources familiar with the call between Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, and the Russian president, Putin spent most of the 90-minute call to deliver a lengthy rant about Russian historical fixations.

The call, which was initially planned to last half an hour, comes ahead of trilateral peace talks expected in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi sometime in November between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S.

Ukraine's calls for an immediate ceasefire were barely discussed during the phone call, the sources added. With one source telling FT that the leaders did not interrupt Putin's rant to gauge his seriousness on future dialogue with Europe.

The Russian leader has often invoked Ukrainian and Russian history to justify aggression against Ukraine, like during his interview with U.S. host Tucker Carlson in 2024.

Amid failed attempts at peace negotiations, Putin has repeatedly espoused his views on Russian history in conversations with world leaders. The Russian president reportedly gave a similar lecture to U.S. President Donald Trump during the August 2025 summit in Alaska, which reportedly included a lengthy lecture on medieval Rus princes, such as Rurik or Yaroslav the Wise, as well as the 17th-century Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.

While the exact details of the discussion remain unclear, Putin's cherry-picked historical narratives and outright distortions have been repeatedly disputed by Western historians as a means to justify Moscow's actions.

The two leaders' call with Putin follows an Oct. 20 meeting in Oslo with Ukrainian, European, and U.S. officials, but they stressed that in the Oct. 27 call, they "did not speak he behalf of Europe as a whole."

The two leaders discussed the call with President Volodymyr Zelensky afterward, who said: "I am grateful for the detailed briefing and for their active support for our diplomacy and the peace efforts we are pursuing together with all our partners."

The phone call between the Nordic leaders and Putin received mix reactions from fellow European leaders with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen telling media that she was "skeptical" of the call and that it had not been coordinated with others.

Meanwhile a European Commission spokesperson reminded that "we have a shared interest in putting an end to this horrific war," in comments sent to the Kyiv Independent.

"On the EU side, we are adamantly committed not just to putting an end to the war but to achieve peace that will be just and sustainable. That is our aim and that is the stance we are defending in the ongoing talks," the spokesperson said.

A senior EU official told the Kyiv Independent to expect a round of talks in Europe before the expected Abu Dhabi meeting, after mixed messages from Kyiv had given the impression that there would be Brussels-based peace talks this week.