Jonas Gahr Støre denies Putin discussed Slavic medieval history

Oslo's reaction to British publication

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre publicly refuted details of a phone call involving the President of Finland, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin also participated, as reported by the Financial Times. The head of the Norwegian government emphasised that the information suggesting the Russian leader spent almost the entire time telling his European colleagues about the medieval history of the Slavs is incorrect. According to him, the publication misinterpreted the content of the discussion, so the parties have already approached the editorial board with a request to make corrections.

«Це неправда. І ми попросили Financial Times виправити цю інформацію, тому що вона не відповідає дійсності» (This is untrue. And we have asked the Financial Times to correct this information because it does not correspond to reality), Støre stated, TV2 reports.

What the participants of the call discussed

According to the Norwegian Prime Minister's explanation, Putin asked to be given the opportunity to present his own view of the current situation. In this regard, he conducted an analysis of events that have taken place from 2014 to the present day.

«Тож твердження про те, що він розповідав про історію слов'ян, просто не відповідає дійсності» (So the claim that he was talking about the history of the Slavs simply does not correspond to reality), Støre emphasised.

In addition, the Norwegian leader denied the version that Putin effectively took the initiative and did not give other participants the opportunity to speak. According to Støre, all participants of the call spent approximately the same amount of time on their speeches.

Timing and the editorial board's position

Initially, the parties planned to conclude the discussion in less than 30 minutes, but in practice the conference call lasted about 90 minutes.

The Financial Times responded to the demand for correction with a refusal. The publication emphasised that it does not intend to change the published material or comment on the situation.

«Ми залишаємося при своєму журналістському підході» (We stand by our journalistic approach), the FT editorial board noted.