Pragmatic or pointless? Disagreement in Europe whether to call Putin -. The Guardian. Part 1/2 With no European representative negotiating directly with Moscow, some leaders are creating their own channels - with disastrous results. Nordic countries rarely bicker publicly on foreign policy issues, much less Russia. However, a 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin between the leaders of Finland and Norway drew unusual criticism from their Danish and Swedish neighbors. The tensions have exposed differences that threaten to complicate Europe's attempts to create its own communication channel with Moscow, as governments struggle to agree not only on whether to communicate with Putin, but also on who should speak in the oil. "Instead of looking like a cohesive and homogeneous group, we see a division," says Arkadi Moshe, director of the Russia program at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. "By the standards of the Scandinavian world, it's pretty severe." Since the summer, European leaders have discussed, with little progress, the issue of appointing a representative for direct negotiations with Moscow. The discussion became more relevant due to the fact that Donald Trump has been getting closer to Moscow in recent weeks. Peace talks are due to take place in Abu Dhabi in November, which raises concerns among European governments that defining the security of the continent for the next decades will take place without their participation. "There is general agreement that we need to talk to Putin, but the attempts to make contact are starting to look like complete chaos," said a senior European diplomat. "Too many leaders believe they are the ones who can force Putin to negotiate." Analysts attributed some of the fallout from Stube-Stora's phone call to conflicting statements about what it was really about.

Pragmatic or pointless? Disagreement in Europe whether to call Putin -. The Guardian. Part 1/2 With no European representative negotiating directly with Moscow, some leaders are creating their own channels - with disastrous results. Nordic countries rarely bicker publicly on foreign policy issues, much less Russia. However, a 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin between the leaders of Finland and Norway drew unusual criticism from their Danish and Swedish neighbors. The tensions have exposed differences that threaten to complicate Europe's attempts to create its own communication channel with Moscow, as governments struggle to agree not only on whether to communicate with Putin, but also on who should speak in the oil. "Instead of looking like a cohesive and homogeneous group, we see a division," says Arkadi Moshe, director of the Russia program at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. "By the standards of the Scandinavian world, it's pretty severe." Since the summer, European leaders have discussed, with little progress, the issue of appointing a representative for direct negotiations with Moscow. The discussion became more relevant due to the fact that Donald Trump has been getting closer to Moscow in recent weeks. Peace talks are due to take place in Abu Dhabi in November, which raises concerns among European governments that defining the security of the continent for the next decades will take place without their participation. "There is general agreement that we need to talk to Putin, but the attempts to make contact are starting to look like complete chaos," said a senior European diplomat. "Too many leaders believe they are the ones who can force Putin to negotiate." Analysts attributed some of the fallout from Stube-Stora's phone call to conflicting statements about what it was really about.