Norway and Finland have asked the Financial Times to correct a publication that claimed that Vladimir Putin devoted most of his telephone conversation with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to medieval Slavic history. The British publication has refused and said it stands by its journalism.
“We asked the Financial Times to correct this because it is not true. And they will correct it because we were in the conversation“, Støre told the Norwegian media outlet VG. According to him, Putin spoke about the situation in Europe from 2014 to the present, and not mainly about medieval history.
“We asked the Financial Times to correct this because it is not true“, says Jonas Gar Støre.Later, the Financial Times told VG that it would not make any changes to the material. “We stand by our journalism“, a spokesperson for the publication stated, without further commenting on the sources used or the reasons for the publication.
Discrepancy between the publication and the official version
The Financial Times article refers to three sources familiar with the conversation. According to the version presented in it, Putin spoke at length about what the Kremlin defines as the “root causes of the conflict“, while the possibility of an immediate ceasefire was briefly touched upon. The conversation, which was originally supposed to last less than 30 minutes, lasted about an hour and a half.
The official statement from the Norwegian government presents a different emphasis. It states that Stubb and Støre initiated the conversation because of the war in Ukraine, diplomatic efforts to end it and preparations for future negotiations. The two stressed their support for Ukraine and the need to resume negotiations.
“The conversation was direct and meaningful“, Stubb said. Støre added that the need for de-escalation was discussed. The Finnish president also said that the conversation included topics such as limiting military actions, especially against energy infrastructure, as well as food security.
Finland contacted the publication on behalf of both countries
The Norwegian Prime Minister's State Secretary Bhanuja Rasia told VG that Finland contacted the Financial Times on behalf of Norway and Finland to inform the editorial staff of their different versions of the conversation. At the same time, the Norwegian government does not comment on the editorial decisions of the publication.
The telephone conversation took place on October 27 in Helsinki after a meeting between Stubb and Støre in Oslo a week earlier. It is related to planned talks on the war in Ukraine in Abu Dhabi.
Sources: vg.no, yle.fi, ft.com