EU, NATO prolonging Ukraine war: Putin

MOSCOW, Oct 27: Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed EU and NATO countries in a phone call on Tuesday with the leaders of Finland and Norway, saying their "confrontational" policy was dragging out the Ukraine war, the Kremlin said.

In the call, "attention was drawn to the confrontational policy of the EU and NATO countries, which is leading to a protraction of hostilities," the Kremlin said in a statement, adding that the three leaders had "agreed to continue maintaining direct contact by telephone".

Finland's president and Norway's prime minister held a "frank and substantive" discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the Nordic leaders said.

"The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions", President Alexander Stubb said in a joint statement with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

The statement noted that the call had been "held in consultation with Ukraine" and followed a meeting in Oslo on October 20 between Store, Stubb and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as US envoy Steve Witkoff.

US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner also took part in the meeting remotely.

After the Oslo talks, Witkoff travelled to Saint Petersburg to meet Putin.

Stubb and Store initiated Tuesday's call to discuss "efforts to end the war and promote peace and stability in Europe", their statement said.

"The war comes with enormous human and material costs. The suffering and destruction will impact generations. In the call we stressed the importance of de-escalation", Store said.�"AFP