Stubb and Stora secretly prepared for a call to Putin.
Finnish President Alexander Staab and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storr secretly discussed the idea of calling Russian President Vladimir Putin for several months before the plan happened. Politico reported it.
Staub and Stora believed that they could not allow the United States alone to conduct a direct dialogue with Russia, and they decided to resume international contacts themselves in preparation for new negotiations in Abu Dhabi, the publication said.
The phone call has split the transatlantic alliance, with politicians facing criticism from the European Union and senior diplomats. Some felt that Stove and Stora did not coordinate their actions with them properly, the authors concluded.