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German chancellor Olaf Scholz has defended his recent phone call to Vladimir Putin, but admitted what the Russian president had to say was not “good news”.
The two leaders spoke for an hour for the first time in almost two years on Friday, where Scholz tried to encourage the Russian president to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Scholz said: “It was important to tell [Putin] that he cannot count on support from Germany, Europe and many others in the world waning.
“The conversation was very detailed but continued to a recognition that little has changed in the Russian president’s views – and that is not good news.”
His defence came after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed their conversation.
He said it had opened a “Pandora’s box”, adding: “Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words,
“And this is exactly what Putin has long wanted: It is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation.”
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Scholz also said: “I don’t think that it will be a good idea to organise talks between the American and Russian president soon while the head of government of one of European’s leading countries doesn’t engage in talks.
“Some people in Germany think it right but I am not among them.”
The chancellor has to contend with pressure from both the left and right within Germany right now, all of whom are pushing for more diplomatic talks to end the European war ahead of snap elections in three months’ time.
However, Scholz claimed to reporters that he had requested to speak to Putin “many times” in the past.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov offered far less information on their exchange than Scholz.
He only told reporters: “As far as I know it was quite a businesslike conversation, detailed and quite frank, as the sides laid out their positions mutually.”
The leaders’ conversation comes as the war approaches its three-year mark.
Less than 48 hours after the leaders’ conversation, Russia launched a huge missile attack on Ukraine and its energy infrastructure, with missiles reaching to the country’s most western points.
Moscow also alleged Putin had told the German chancellor that any agreement to end the war needed to reflect “new territorial realities” and acknowledge Russia’s security demands such as making sure Ukraine does not join Nato.
In a statement after the call, the German government said: “The federal chancellor urged Russia’s willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace and emphasised Germany’s unwavering determination to keep Ukraine in the peace process.”
The call, the first between the two since December 2022, reportedly lasted around an hour.
The leaders supposedly agreed communication would continue between their aides.
He added that there will be “no new Minsk Agreement”, referring to the ceasefire deals between Ukraine and Russia struck in 2014 and 2015.
Scholz and Putin’s conversation came shortly after Donald Trump won a second term in the White House.
The Republican has repeatedly said he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of being inaugurated in January, but has not specified how he intends to do so.
It has sparked fears that Trump would push Kyiv to cede occupied land to Russia.
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