Norway and Finland hold rare phone call with Putin: What that means

The leaders of Norway and Finland have held a rare call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to push for an end to the war in Ukraine, ahead of a planned round of United States-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi next month. The call on Tuesday marked a break from a longstanding policy among Western European heads of state to avoid direct talks with the Russian leader. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere spoke with Putin for 90 minutes. US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents would happen “very soon”.