Chancellor Olaf Scholz (66, SPD) wanted to speak to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin (71) for the first time in almost two years. She had that “Time” reported on Monday, citing government circles. Scholz wants to have the conversation before the G20 meeting in Brazil in November. And received a rejection.
Putin spokesman Dmitri Peskov (56) let Scholz appear and said on Wednesday: “At first glance, there are no common themes (for a conversation)our relations have effectively been reduced to zero and not on our initiative.”
The Kremlin spokesman asserted that Putin was and would remain open to dialogue.
Well aware that efforts to make a phone call would probably be in vain, Scholz turned to Putin on Wednesday afternoon at a public meeting in Schwerin.
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When it came to the $50 billion loan for Ukraine, Scholz said: “This is deliberately a promise of stability to Ukraine,” said the Chancellor. “By the way, also a statement to the Russian president that he should not speculate that at some point the support will simply wane and he can eat the entire country.”
Also on the road to Russia: Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his wife So-yeon Schröder-Kim attended a performance by Russian opera diva Anna Netrebko at the Berlin State Opera on Wednesday. Just like Schröder, she is criticized for her closeness to Putin
Photo: Ralf Günther
The one-sided announcement of the phone call resulted in further escalations of Putin’s war of aggression. In a speech on Monday on the second anniversary of the annexation of three Ukrainian regions in violation of international law, the Kremlin ruler spoke in all seriousness on Monday about the “Day of Reunification with Russia.”
In his propaganda speech, he also announced that starting in October, 133,000 young Russians between the ages of 18 and 30 would be drafted and sent to war.
Scholz last spoke to Putin on the phone in December 2022. US President Joe Biden (81), French President Emmanuel Macron (46) and the then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (60) also last spoke directly with Putin in 2022.
