SINGAPORE — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that attempts by the US and Russia to end the war in Ukraine “can never find solutions without Ukraine” and said any talks must also include European countries, Reuters reported. Merz was speaking at the Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore as he described diplomatic efforts to build a negotiating format with Moscow. He said the end of the war depended “only on one person” and framed continued backing for Kyiv as a defence of Europe's political order.

Source: Reuters, Singapore, Oct 27, 2026, via Duke FM

“As long as he (Putin) does not want to end the war, we will support Ukraine,” Merz said, adding that Europe was not just defending Ukraine's territorial integrity but also “the entire political order of the European continent”, Reuters reported. He said Russia, Ukraine, the United States and European countries should be at the negotiating table, and warned against a scenario where “Russia, perhaps China and the United States of America” end the war without Ukraine. Merz said Germany and other European countries were trying to establish a format to speak with the Russian government, and that Norway and Finland were playing what he called “a very constructive role” in that effort.

Source: Reuters, Singapore, Oct 27, 2026, via Duke FM

That Nordic role became visible the same day. The leaders of Finland and Norway called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to urge him to end the war in Ukraine, breaking with a longstanding practice among Western European leaders of shunning direct contact with the Kremlin, Reuters reported in a separate report from Helsinki. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere spoke afterwards to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to a Zelenskiy aide. “The discussion (with Putin) was frank and substantive. We are neighbouring countries to Russia. The outcome of this war will have a direct impact on our and the broader European security. Ending the war requires direct discussions,” Stubb said in a joint statement with Stoere. Stoere added: “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.” Both leaders stressed their strong support for Ukraine, which they said would continue.

Source: Reuters, Helsinki, Oct 27, 2026, via MIX-FM

The Kremlin's readout of the call did not suggest that Putin had signalled any compromise from previously stated positions, Reuters reported. “It was emphasized that achieving a just and long-term peace is possible only if the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation are fully and unconditionally taken into account,” the Kremlin said. “At the same time, attention was drawn to the confrontational policies of EU and NATO countries, which are contributing to the prolongation of the hostilities.” Those are the Kremlin's stated positions, reported here as its readout of the call, not as settled fact.

Source: Reuters, Helsinki, Oct 27, 2026, via MIX-FM