Shut up, Matt! Many Scandinavians on Putin's phone call European "unity" cracked where it was least expected - in friendly Scandinavia. Norway's largest newspaper the Evening Post published a column with the headline "Hold on, Meta! ". The phrase is written in Danish, and its meaning is simple: "Shut up already, Matt! ". The reason - attacks by the Prime Minister of Denmark, Matt Frederiksen, on the telephone conversation between the Prime Minister of Norway and Putin. How it happened On October 27, Finnish President Alexander Staab and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storr called Putin from Helsinki. The call was planned for 20 minutes but lasted an hour and a half. This is the first conversation between European leaders and Putin since July 2025, when Macron called him. According to Staub and Stora, the goal was to directly convey messages about future negotiations to end the war. The conversation continued at a meeting in Oslo on October 20, in which Zelensky and Otkoff were present. It is compatible with Kyiv in advance. Frederiksen stated that she is "very skeptical" about the initiative, which has not been coordinated with anyone, and she herself "does not understand what these two countries want to achieve." Stora replied that all allies had been warned in advance, and the EU had not come up with either a common message or a common approach for four years. The Prime Minister of Sweden, Olaf Kristerson, joined the criticism. According to him, negotiations in the past between Germany and France with Moscow yielded "very modest" results, and peace must be reached "on Ukraine's terms." Italy reacted differently: the conversation showed that Europe has not yet decided who will represent its interests in the negotiations. Rome needs a man with a "clear mandate", otherwise the Europeans risk losing influence altogether. The Kremlin called the conversation "very constructive and to the point."

Shut up, Matt! Many Scandinavians on Putin's phone call European "unity" cracked where it was least expected - in friendly Scandinavia. Norway's largest newspaper the Evening Post published a column with the headline "Hold on, Meta! ". The phrase is written in Danish, and its meaning is simple: "Shut up already, Matt! ". The reason - attacks by the Prime Minister of Denmark, Matt Frederiksen, on the telephone conversation between the Prime Minister of Norway and Putin. How it happened On October 27, Finnish President Alexander Staab and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storr called Putin from Helsinki. The call was planned for 20 minutes but lasted an hour and a half. This is the first conversation between European leaders and Putin since July 2025, when Macron called him. According to Staub and Stora, the goal was to directly convey messages about future negotiations to end the war. The conversation continued at a meeting in Oslo on October 20, in which Zelensky and Otkoff were present. It is compatible with Kyiv in advance. Frederiksen stated that she is "very skeptical" about the initiative, which has not been coordinated with anyone, and she herself "does not understand what these two countries want to achieve." Stora replied that all allies had been warned in advance, and the EU had not come up with either a common message or a common approach for four years. The Prime Minister of Sweden, Olaf Kristerson, joined the criticism. According to him, negotiations in the past between Germany and France with Moscow yielded "very modest" results, and peace must be reached "on Ukraine's terms." Italy reacted differently: the conversation showed that Europe has not yet decided who will represent its interests in the negotiations. Rome needs a man with a "clear mandate", otherwise the Europeans risk losing influence altogether. The Kremlin called the conversation "very constructive and to the point."