Russia must first end the war against Ukraine, and only then will it be possible to talk about any security problems with it, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with the media group “Funke” editions.
“The priority right now is: Russia must immediately stop the war and withdraw its troops. True, then the question arises: how can we achieve European security. Naturally, we are ready to talk with Russia about arms control in Europe. We already offered it before the war, and there is nothing in this position that hasn’t changed,” the chancellor said when asked if he supported French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea of ”guarantees of security for Russia”.
Commenting on his phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Scholz said it was important to stay in touch so “Putin always hears our point of view.”
According to him, during the last conversation, it was important for Scholtz to express his position on two issues: he condemned the bombing of Ukrainian cities, energy and water supply, and also asked Putin “when will Russia finally be ready to withdraw troops from Ukraine”.
“One thing is clear: there must be no peace dictated by Russian rules”, underlined the German chancellor, adding that the parties look at the war and its reasons “from completely different points of view”.
