A telephone conversation took place between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden. This was stated on Wednesday, February 16, by a representative of the German government.
It is noted that the main topic of the talks was the recent visits of the German Chancellor to Kiev and Moscow.
“It is important to start a constructive dialogue on European security issues, implement the Minsk agreements and, with the support of Germany and France, make progress in the Normandy format. The key to this lies in Moscow,” the German Cabinet said in a statement.
In addition, the parties welcomed the statements of Russian President Vladimir Putin that the situation around Ukraine should be resolved through diplomacy.
At the same time, as follows from the material distributed by the office of the German government, the risk of further Russian military aggression against Ukraine remains. A significant withdrawal of Russian troops has not yet been observed, according to Germany.
The talks between Putin and Scholz took place in the Kremlin on February 15. Politicians communicated more than three hours. The leaders’ meeting was the first since Scholz’s appointment as Chancellor.
The German leader said during a press conference following the talks that the conversation was intense and confidential. According to Scholz, there are prerequisites for achieving peace and security in Europe, Russia and Germany intend to use them. The President of Russia said that further actions of the authorities in the field of security will depend on the situation on the ground. As Putin emphasized, Moscow is committed to finding diplomatic ways in resolving current issues.
In turn, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the conversation between President Putin and Scholz was constructive and confidential.
Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he could not yet talk about the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border.
In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Western countries, which called for checking the withdrawal of the Russian Armed Forces after the end of joint exercises with Belarus. The minister called such statements a lack of education.
In the United States and EU countries, they have recently expressed concern about the alleged increase in Russia’s “aggressive actions” against Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone. As the Russian side emphasized, such accusations are used as a pretext to deploy as much NATO military equipment as possible near the borders of the Russian Federation.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
