Oleshky truce widened across Kherson region as Finland and Norway leaders hold rare call with Putin

A local ceasefire that began Tuesday around the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky has been extended across the wider Kherson region to give humanitarian convoys safe passage, U.S. first lady Melania Trump and Ukrainian officials said. Both sides said the truce was being observed. Ukrainian lawmaker David Arakhamia said it would last until 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday, Nov. 1, and the BBC reported that aid deliveries are to be followed by an evacuation on Friday for residents who want to leave. An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, which has had no electricity, gas or water for years, the BBC said.

Separately, Finland's President Alexander Stubb and Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a 90-minute call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a rare direct contact between European leaders and the Kremlin. Stubb called it "frank and substantive," while Støre said big differences remained. The Kremlin said Putin told them a lasting peace was possible only if Russia's interests were fully taken into account. Denmark's prime minister criticized the initiative as not agreed with other European governments.

Why it matters: The two leaders linked the call to U.S.-Ukraine-Russia talks tentatively planned for early November in Abu Dhabi, and Ukraine's foreign minister said a working truce could pave the way for further steps in the peace process.