The Nordic countries rarely fall out in public over foreign policy, least of all over Russia .

But a 90-minute phone call this week to Vladimir Putin by the leaders of Finland and Norway drew an unusual rebuke from their Danish and Swedish neighbours.

On Tuesday, Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, and Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, spoke with Putin, in a rare high-level conversation between the Russian leader and Ukraine’s European allies. The two Nordic leaders stressed that the call had been conducted on Ukraine’s behalf and that allies had been informed in advance.

Their neighbours were not convinced.

“I am very sceptical about this independent initiative by Norway and Finland,” said Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, who complained that the call had not been coordinated with Copenhagen.…