Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre disputes a Financial Times report describing a recent trilateral phone call involving Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Støre formally requests a correction, and Norway says the newspaper should amend its account. The dispute focuses on how much of the roughly 90-minute conversation was devoted to Putin’s remarks about history versus discussion of European developments and Ukraine-related issues.
According to the Financial Times, citing three anonymous sources, Putin’s historical analysis of Slavic history took up a significant portion of the call, with comparatively little attention given to the ceasefire or the wider Ukraine conflict. Støre publicly denies that characterization, saying European positions were presented and that Putin outlined his understanding of European developments since 2014. The Financial Times refuses to issue an erratum and maintains its reporting, including its reliance on sources for the call’s details.
The different outlets frame the same core controversy around Støre’s denial and the newspaper’s refusal to correct. One outlet emphasizes the underlying question of access and confidentiality surrounding closed diplomatic calls, while others focus more directly on Støre rejecting the “history lecture” portrayal.
