Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre denied a Financial Times report claiming that Russian leader vladimir putin spent almost the entire phone call with him and Finnish President Alexander Stubb talking about the history of the Slavs. Norway asked the publication to correct the article, but the editorial team refused. TV2 reports this, writes UNN.
That is not true. And we asked the Financial Times to correct this information because it does not correspond to reality
According to the Norwegian prime minister, putin presented his own view of events from 2014 to the present day. The conversation lasted about an hour and a half—instead of the planned less than 30 minutes.
Støre also denied that the Russian president took up most of the conversation. According to him, the participants spoke for approximately the same amount of time, partly because of the need for translation.
The Financial Times published information about the alleged history lecture, citing three anonymous sources. At the same time, the publication refused to correct the article. A newspaper representative told VG that the editorial team stands by its journalistic position.
According to Støre, the purpose of the conversation was to explore opportunities for de-escalation and the creation of a European channel for dialogue with Moscow. He emphasized that Norway and Finland, as countries neighboring Russia, should maintain direct contact with the Kremlin.
Støre also explained that it was necessary to hear putin's position in order to understand the Kremlin's approach ahead of the planned talks in Abu Dhabi.