German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke today with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone for an hour for the first time since December 2022, the country’s government said, cited by Reuters.
he is he called on Putin to start negotiations for a “real and lasting peace” in Ukraineas well as to withdraw the troops from the occupied areas and it has been announced that Germany will continue to support Kiev as long as necessary.
The German Chancellor has told the Russian president that the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia for combat operations against Ukraine represents a major escalation and expansion of the conflict.
Putin, in turn, said that any agreement must end the conflict in Ukraine to take care of Russia’s security interestsbe based on the “new territorial realities” and take into account the main causes of the conflict, the Kremlin press service announced.
Putin described an “unprecedented deterioration” in the relationship between the Russian Federation and Germany “in all directions” and blamed Berlin for it. Putin also said that the current crisis is “a direct result of the many years of NATO’s aggressive policy.”
The conversation between the two took place despite an appeal to Scholz not to call Putin by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom the German Chancellor had previously spoken. Zelensky insisted that the call would only strengthen Putin, who is seeking respite from war, not peace, sources in the Ukrainian president’s office said.
Pandora’s box
After the announcement of the call Zelensky’s opinion was that this opened a “Pandora’s box”.undermining efforts to isolate the Russian leader.
“Now there can be other talks, other calls. Just a lot of words. And this is exactly what Putin wanted for a long time: it is very important for him to undermine isolation.”Zelensky said in his afternoon speech.
The president of Ukraine confirmed that he was informed before the upcoming conversation, notes France Presse.
“We must warn you: there will be no Minsk-3. We need real peace“Zelensky added, hinting at a possible agreement to freeze the conflict.
The two accords, reached in Minsk in 2014 and 2015, were signed by Kiev- and Moscow-backed separatists who controlled large areas of eastern Ukraine. They caused a lot of ceasefires, more or less respect on the face, but not to solve the conflict. Russia started the attack on Ukraine in 2022, AFP recalls.
Talks with Putin will not contribute to achieving direct peace
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine confirmed that phone calls with Putin do not contribute to progress towards “direct peace”quoting Reuters.
“For more than two decades, Putin has used the long talks as a tool to advance his interests.said the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Giorgi Tyhi.
He called for “hard and strong actions to make (Russia) make peace, not persuasion and attempts at appeasement.”
The last time Scholz and Putin communicated was in December 2022. Then the German Chancellor called on Putin to withdraw the troops from the territory ofUkraine and move on to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Last Monday, Scholz said he was ready to negotiate the Ukrainian issue with Putin with the participation of Kiev and other countries.
“Yes, I will talk to the president of Russia when the time comes. But I am a responsible politician, I will not do this alone”the chancellor said, saying he intended to resume talks “soon.” According to him, before starting a dialogue with the president of Russia, several contacts will be established and discussions will be held with other countries, including Ukraine.
In the middle of October the German chancellor was already sayingthat he is ready to talk to the Russian authorities about ways to resolve the armed conflict in Ukraine. He noted that negotiations with the Russian side must be carried out in coordination with the closest allies in Germany and that decisions cannot be made “behind Ukraine’s back”.
German government sources told Die Zeit in early October that Scholz planned to contact Putin in the coming weeks to discuss Ukraine. However, the Russian president was “not ready to talk” with the German chancellor, German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock said later.
“We have to see if there are ways to find out if this war is going to go on forever, or if we can find ways to end it. “ the chancellor told German public television on Sunday.
Macron warned about the conversation, but not about the messages
French President Emmanuel Macron knew in advance that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz planned to hold a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the “Mond”, reported by Ukrinform.
However, the French daily specified that Scholz’s messages to Putin were not coordinated by the French president.
“The head of the German government said this in the form of the European Quartet (USA, UK, France, Germany). We were not informed about the specific time of the conversation. The messages were also not coordinated,” said the Elysee Palace. official
“Putin knows how to contact the President of the Republic. No talks are scheduled. Our priority is to support Ukraine and European unity. This is the most important thing at this critical time, “said the spokesperson of the French publication.
