According to information from the Kremlin, the phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not bring any rapprochement, but could still be repeated. “But there was nothing unusual here, neither for him nor for me – he stated his position, I mean, and we stuck to our opinions on this issue (on Ukraine),” Putin said at a news conference in Astana. The bilateral relationship was only touched on in passing during the hour-long phone call. “But in general I think that dialogue will continue to be possible in the future.”
Putin emphasized that Russia remains ready for talks with Western leaders and negotiations with Ukraine. However, negotiations can only take place under the conditions expressed in June. At the beginning of the summer, Putin declared that in order to negotiate peace, Ukraine would have to give up the Crimean peninsula and the four regions of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia that were partially conquered by Moscow, as well as the prospect of joining NATO. At the same time, the Kremlin chief stuck to his call for so-called denazification, by which Moscow means the establishment of a government in Kiev that is loyal to Russia.
At the same time, the Russian head of state once again threatened to use nuclear weapons. Russia will not allow Ukraine to be armed with nuclear weapons. “In that case, I would like to emphasize this, we will all use all the weapons available to Russia,” said the 72-year-old. Putin ordered the war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 and has since threatened the use of nuclear weapons several times.
