German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukraine, the first talks between the leaders in nearly two years.
In the call, Scholz “condemned Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw troops,” said chancellor spokesman Stefan Habstreit.
“The German leader urged Russia to show willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace,” Habenstreit said in a statement.
Scholz also stressed “Germany’s determination to support Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression as long as necessary”.
This call comes at a critical juncture in the war. Ukrainian troops are coming under pressure and the election of Donald Trump in the United States has raised doubts over Washington’s continued support for Kiev.
The Kremlin said Putin had a “detailed and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine” with Scholz, with the call initiated by the German side.
The Kremlin said Putin told Scholz that any agreement to end the war in Ukraine “must take into account the security interests of the Russian Federation”.
An agreement must “move forward from new regional realities and, most importantly, address the root causes of the conflict”.
ukraine contact
Before picking up the phone to Putin, Scholz spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Scholz’s spokesman said.
The German and Ukrainian leaders “had spoken previously and will do so again after talks with the Russian president”, the spokesman said.
The talks between Scholz and Putin were the first since December 2022.
During the hour-long call, Scholz “specifically condemned Russian airstrikes against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” a German government source said.
“They made it clear that sending North Korean troops to Russia for combat operations against Ukraine would seriously escalate and expand the conflict,” the source said.
Berlin will keep NATO and EU allies informed about the talks, while the German and Russian leaders “agreed to remain in touch”.
Scholz’s December 2022 call with Putin was the last known phone call between the Kremlin chief and the leader of a major Western country.
Putin has spoken to few NATO and Western leaders since 2022, when the EU and the US imposed massive sanctions on Russia for launching its surprise attack on Ukraine.
Within the NATO bloc, Putin maintains contacts with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban – who is critical of Western policy on Russia – and with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
trump factor
Ukraine is bracing for its toughest winter of the war so far, which begins in February 2022 when Russia launches its full-scale invasion.
Much of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian bombing and Kiev’s military is increasingly on the backfoot.
Germany has been one of Ukraine’s biggest military supporters, second only to the United States in sending aid to Kiev.
But the election of Trump, who criticized aid to Ukraine during the campaign, has raised questions about Washington’s continued support.
Trump said on the campaign trail that he could end the war within hours and indicated he would speak directly to Putin.
The Kremlin has denied reports that Putin and the President-elect of the United States recently discussed the Ukraine conflict by phone.
Scholz, who spoke to Trump after his election victory, told German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on Friday that the incoming US leader had a “more nuanced” position on the conflict than was commonly thought.
After the Putin-Scholz call, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was updated by the German leader on the discussions.
Tusk was “satisfied” that Scholz “repeated the Polish position: ‘Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’,” he said on the social media platform X.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
