The leaders of Finland and Norway have been secretly preparing a conversation with Putin for months, Politico reports.
According to the publication, the President of Finland Alexander Staab and the Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Storr saw it as unacceptable for direct dialogue with Moscow only by US representatives on the eve of the trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi.
As Politico points out, the contact with the Russian leader drew criticism from a number of European politicians and diplomats who thought the Helsinki and Oslo actions were inconsistent with their allies.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stora, in turn, called on his European colleagues to admit that the EU has failed to isolate Russia.
He explained that against the backdrop of Europe's refusal to speak directly with the Russian leadership, "the only voice that Moscow hears comes from Washington."