Laura Rozen

Reporting on foreign policy. Current: Diplomatic Substack, Just Security ed bd. Al-Monitor Politico Foreign Policy alum. lkrozen threads, lkrozen.bsky, at gmail

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

Plan B?

[CSPAN @cspan]

Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT (D-CT) on Iran war if Democrats win back Congress: "We will essentially say, 'We want to fund the Department of Defense, but we are not gonna fund the Department of Defense if it's funding the war.'"

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

RT @KellieMeyerNews: NEW: There has been a lot of back and forth between the Iranians and Americans via the mediators over the last few day…

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

@GarrettHaake it looks like a high school gym?

[Garrett Haake @GarrettHaake]

I’ve covered dozens if not hundreds of Trump rallies and I can’t recall him ever holding one in a room as small as this arena in Chillicothe, Ohio. It’ll be packed and loud- but maybe 1000 people will fit.

[Guy Elster גיא אלסטר @guyelster]

I hope that Musk will not help Russia with its Starlink's version

[Mike Baker @ByMikeBaker]

In a private White House meeting earlier this year, President Trump told the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota to "prosecute Ilhan Omar"

https://t.co/YLQyKV1T3V

[VoteVets @votevets]

When Ukraine suddenly lost access to Elon Musk’s Starlink technology, Sen. Elissa Slotkin knew he wasn’t acting alone. As a former CIA analyst, she isn’t buying the lies. She knows Trump was behind it.

[Masoud مسعود @MMostajabi1]

@tmnxeq @lrozen You'll find no winners the world over.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

@Inneezbogzarad am not sure on mbs, but I think overall their views were not considered. there was almost no pre war deliberation.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

@Inneezbogzarad the gulf leaders who have given trump and kushner etc billions of dollars, not clear if they have any ability to get trump to change his mind.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

@hissgoescobra she is against it.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

@jw33062 get the feeling he was left out of the loop on musk and trump and witkoff conspiring to turn off starlink for ukraine. he may have eventually helped fix that.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

Same on Russia/Ukraine policy, it seems

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

“The Secretary of State doesn't own the primary ownership of the portfolio because the interest isn't in protecting America's security; the interest is in making Trump rich,” @ChrisMurphyCT said.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

@Inneezbogzarad there is a sleepwalking quality in dc to trump repeatedly saying he may do this after the midterms. there is already widespread public disapproval of the war. gop likely losing one or maybe two houses in part because of it next week. but new congress not seated til january

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

depressing

[Meridith McGraw @meridithmcgraw]

The U.S. has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign after the U.S. midterm elections https://t.co/I8tgNMTPBb via @WSJ

[Maliheh 🎒 @Inneezbogzarad]

Logic suggests it will not be short. No one knows how long it will take, but it will likely be long. The previous war was extremely intense. This time they plan to bomb energy infrastructure, which will not be easy to contain. We will not be the victims; we will retaliate as much as we can.

[Tomasz Wlostowski @TomWlost]

@lrozen https://t.co/33eM2qcW6e

[Krysti Brice @KrystiBrice]

@lrozen 🎯 And he probably is rolling in his grave.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

Finnish analyst on the rationale for Finnish/Norwegian leaders call with Putin yesterday.

[Henri Vanhanen @HenriVanhanen]

For my English-speaking followers, let's get the facts straight about the Stubb–Støre call with Putin.

New reporting from Finland provides important details missing from much of the international debate. Some of the initial accusations now look rather premature.

First, why did the call happen?

According to President Stubb, Ukraine's peace negotiations were close to collapsing last week, with relations between Kyiv and Washington in serious trouble. Finnish sources suggest there was even a risk of the US disengaging from the process.

At Zelenskyy's request, Finland and Norway organised the Oslo talks with American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, alongside other European representatives.

The subsequent call to Putin was prepared with Ukraine and the US. According to Finnish sources, key allies were informed beforehand and briefed afterwards. Helsinki also wanted Ukraine to publicly confirm its support for the initiative.

Zelenskyy has since explicitly defended the call and praised its transparency.

Second, the controversy surrounding European coordination deserves clarification.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused Finland and Norway of acting independently and failing to coordinate with other European countries.

But Stubb and Støre have both stated that allies were informed in advance and received detailed briefings afterwards. New reporting from Finnish news agency STT supports their account.

There is an important distinction between not being informed, not being consulted on the decision, and fundamentally disagreeing with that decision.

Frederiksen's criticism increasingly appears to reflect a disagreement over whether direct contact with Putin should happen at all, rather than simply a lack of notification. Her initial framing therefore risks creating a misleading impression of an uncoordinated diplomatic operation.

Political disagreement should not be confused with evidence that Finland and Norway acted behind their allies' backs.

Third, what actually happened during the call?

Finnish broadcaster Yle and news agency STT have challenged the Financial Times' account of Putin delivering a lengthy history lecture to passive Nordic listeners.

Their sources describe a substantive exchange in which Stubb and Støre questioned Putin about the upcoming Abu Dhabi negotiations and stressed that prolonging the war would not diminish European support for Ukraine.

Freedom of navigation in the Baltic Sea, keeping maritime routes open and Russia's shadow fleet were also discussed.

Finnish-Russian bilateral relations reportedly were not discussed at all. The parties agreed to keep the communication channel available.

Fourth, the risks were understood from the beginning.

Finnish sources say criticism and possible Russian propaganda exploitation were anticipated. One source described the initiative as values-based realism, which sometimes requires accepting political risks and their consequences.

This was a calculated decision, not an improvised attempt to normalise relations with Moscow.

Zelenskyy has also reminded critics that Putin's diplomatic isolation effectively ended with Trump's Alaska summit in 2025. Other European governments have maintained contacts with Russia, sometimes without comparable transparency towards Ukraine.

Ukraine requested diplomatic assistance, and Finland and Norway responded in coordination with Kyiv and Washington.

Supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary must also mean supporting it in the ways Ukraine actually asks for. That includes diplomacy.

Europe needs military strength, economic pressure and diplomatic influence. These are complementary instruments, not competing alternatives.

[Henri Vanhanen @HenriVanhanen]

For my English-speaking followers, let's get the facts straight about the Stubb–Støre call with Putin.

New reporting from Finland provides important details missing from much of the international debate. Some of the initial accusations now look rather premature.

First, why did the call happen?

According to President Stubb, Ukraine's peace negotiations were close to collapsing last week, with relations between Kyiv and Washington in serious trouble. Finnish sources suggest there was even a risk of the US disengaging from the process.

At Zelenskyy's request, Finland and Norway organised the Oslo talks with American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, alongside other European representatives.

The subsequent call to Putin was prepared with Ukraine and the US. According to Finnish sources, key allies were informed beforehand and briefed afterwards. Helsinki also wanted Ukraine to publicly confirm its support for the initiative.

Zelenskyy has since explicitly defended the call and praised its transparency.

Second, the controversy surrounding European coordination deserves clarification.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused Finland and Norway of acting independently and failing to coordinate with other European countries.

But Stubb and Støre have both stated that allies were informed in advance and received detailed briefings afterwards. New reporting from Finnish news agency STT supports their account.

There is an important distinction between not being informed, not being consulted on the decision, and fundamentally disagreeing with that decision.

Frederiksen's criticism increasingly appears to reflect a disagreement over whether direct contact with Putin should happen at all, rather than simply a lack of notification. Her initial framing therefore risks creating a misleading impression of an uncoordinated diplomatic operation.

Political disagreement should not be confused with evidence that Finland and Norway acted behind their allies' backs.

Third, what actually happened during the call?

Finnish broadcaster Yle and news agency STT have challenged the Financial Times' account of Putin delivering a lengthy history lecture to passive Nordic listeners.

Their sources describe a substantive exchange in which Stubb and Støre questioned Putin about the upcoming Abu Dhabi negotiations and stressed that prolonging the war would not diminish European support for Ukraine.

Freedom of navigation in the Baltic Sea, keeping maritime routes open and Russia's shadow fleet were also discussed.

Finnish-Russian bilateral relations reportedly were not discussed at all. The parties agreed to keep the communication channel available.

Fourth, the risks were understood from the beginning.

Finnish sources say criticism and possible Russian propaganda exploitation were anticipated. One source described the initiative as values-based realism, which sometimes requires accepting political risks and their consequences.

This was a calculated decision, not an improvised attempt to normalise relations with Moscow.

Zelenskyy has also reminded critics that Putin's diplomatic isolation effectively ended with Trump's Alaska summit in 2025. Other European governments have maintained contacts with Russia, sometimes without comparable transparency towards Ukraine.

Ukraine requested diplomatic assistance, and Finland and Norway responded in coordination with Kyiv and Washington.

Supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary must also mean supporting it in the ways Ukraine actually asks for. That includes diplomacy.

Europe needs military strength, economic pressure and diplomatic influence. These are complementary instruments, not competing alternatives.

[Dr Jaber Alsiwat @jsiwat]

@lrozen A war of nerves.

[Laura Rozen @lrozen]

@jw33062 i dont think that is right. murphy saying rubio seems to be sidelined from these portfolios because trump using kushner and witkoff to get payoffs etc