Financial Times rejects Nordic demands to correct Putin call story – media

The newspaper stands by anonymous sources who claimed the Russian president lectured Nordic leaders on Slavic history The Financial Times has refused to correct an anonymously sourced article about a recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Norway and Finland, despite objections from both Nordic governments, according to media reports. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and Finnish President Alexander Stubb spoke with Putin earlier this week, drawing criticism from some of Europe’s more Russia-hawkish politicians. The British newspaper claimed that Putin spent much of the conversation “lecturing” the Nordic leaders on “medieval Slavic history” and its relevance to the Ukraine conflict, rather than discussing ways to end the hostilities.

Citing three anonymous sources described only as “familiar with the conversation,” the FT portrayed the Russian president as “fixated” on history. Two European leaders called Putin. Why did it cause such a stir? Store’s government told Norwegian daily Verdens Gang (VG) that the characterization was inaccurate and that Finland had contacted the FT on behalf of both countries to challenge its account, the newspaper reported on Thursday. Finnish media also covered the joint objection, with the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat citing its own sources to dispute the British paper’s description of the call. The FT, however, rejected the request, telling VG that it stood by its reporting. Its article, published on Tuesday, was written by three journalists. One of them, American national Christopher Miller, previously worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a US government-funded international broadcaster originally established with covert CIA funding to conduct anti-communist propaganda operations…