German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke by telephone this Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since 2022 and asked him to end the war in Ukraine and open serious negotiations with kyiv to achieve a just and lasting peace. .”
As German government sources confirmed to EFE, Scholz stressed that “none of Russia’s war objectives” had been achieved on the ground and, therefore, he urged Putin “to be willing to begin serious negotiations with Ukraine with the aim of obtaining a just and lasting peace. The chancellor asked Putin “to end the war of aggression against Ukraine and to withdraw its troops” from that country.
Scholz last spoke by telephone with Putin in December 2022, and last Wednesday he did so with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This Friday, he once again condemned the Russian war of aggression, which has been causing death, suffering and destruction in Ukraine for nearly a thousand days.
The German Chancellor particularly regretted the air attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and stressed that the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia for combat missions against Ukrainian territory represents a serious escalation and expansion of the conflict.
Scholz had in recent weeks raised the possibility of speaking with Putin, to whom he expressed Germany’s “unwavering determination” to support Ukraine in its defensive struggle for as long as necessary. The Social Democratic politician, who currently leads a minority government in Germany, added that support for Ukraine was long-term and that the Russian president could not rely on time to work in his favor.
According to sources, Scholz and Putin agreed to stay in touch.
This telephone conversation comes at a time when Ukraine finds itself in a complicated situation, since Russia is gaining ground every day in the eastern region of Donetsk and, on the other hand, it fears for Western aid, particularly American, once that she will arrive at the White House. in January.
Trump has been reluctant to continue supplying weapons to Kyiv. On the other hand, Germany will not have a budget for 2025 and will not have a stable government after the breakup of the coalition until the middle of next year, which also makes it difficult to provide additional help to Zelensky.
