Theme: Finland

Finnish President Alexander Stubb defended the phone call he and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre made to Vladimir Putin this week, after criticism from some anti-Moscow hawks in Europe, according to RT. Stubb said it was important to hear firsthand the Russian leader's view of the root causes of the Ukraine conflict and described the direct exchange of opinions as a turning point. According to him, the channel was reopened at Kyiv's request, with messages from Zelensky relayed to Putin.

Finland will create a military space operations center that starts operating on January 1, 2027, within the Air Force headquarters in central Finland, according to Sputnik. According to Defence Blog, the center will take over the three radar-imaging satellites the Finnish Defence Forces bought from ICEYE.

Finland's president and Norway's prime minister on Tuesday held a “frank and substantive” call with Russian President Vladimir Putin about efforts to end the war in Ukraine, according to Le Monde. A statement from the two Nordic leaders said the call was held in consultation with Ukraine and followed an October 20 meeting in Oslo between Støre, Stubb, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and US envoy Steve Witkoff.

The Ukrainian delegation led by Volodymyr Zelensky met US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo on October 20, according to TASS. After the meeting, Finnish President Alexander Stubb did not give Zelensky an opportunity to answer reporters’ questions during a press conference.

Swedish and Finnish fighter jets were scrambled to intercept and identify Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Gulf of Finland on Thursday, September 24, 2026, according to the Finnish Air Force, cited by The Hindu. The Russian group included a transport plane and several fighter jets, according to the Finnish statement, cited by The Hindu.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb appealed to American businessman Elon Musk to expand Starlink coverage and let Ukraine strike ballistic-missile launchers inside Russia, according to TASS. Musk said enabling that use requires a White House decision, and Trump gave no clear answer to Zelensky's requests, according to the Russian agency.

Swedish and Finnish fighter jets were scrambled on Thursday, September 24, to intercept and identify Russian military aircraft, CGTN reports, citing the Finnish Air Force. Reuters also recorded the interception of a Russian military aircraft by Swedish and Finnish jets.