// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
Norway and Finland leaders hold rare call with Putin
Norway and Finland say they are not acting on behalf of other European leaders
The leaders of Finland and Norway have held a joint call with Vladimir Putin - a rare contact between the Russian president and European leaders.
The aim was looking at "future negotiations to help to end the war" in Ukraine, the offices of President Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said. Their initiative was not on behalf of "Europe as a whole".
After the call, Putin said "confrontational" EU and Nato policies were prolonging the war which began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken to the two Nordic leaders after their conversation with Putin. Last week, Zelensky met them as well as US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo.
The Ukrainian leader said he was grateful for the "active support" of his Finnish and Norwegian counterparts.
Tuesday's 90-minute phone call was held from the Finnish capital Helsinki, and showed "big differences in views", Støre said.
Finland and Norway, which border Russia, initiated the call to "discuss Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts to end the war and promote peace and stability in Europe", the leaders' offices said.
The call was "frank and substantive", Stubb said, explaining that the war's outcome will "have a direct impact on our and the broader European security".
Støre added: "The war comes with enormous human and material costs... The suffering and destruction will impact generations."