Chancellor Scholz wants to speak to Russian President Putin again in due course. The Kremlin signals readiness, but also emphasizes the protection of Russian interests.
According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for a new telephone call with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) about the war in Ukraine.
So far, Scholz has not called or Berlin has initiated such an initiative for a conversation, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He was responding to the chancellor’s comments that he would speak to Putin in due course. “It is necessary to talk,” said Peskov.
“President Putin remains open to dialogue, but of course pursues the fundamental goal of protecting the interests of our citizens.” According to the Kremlin, Putin and Scholz last spoke on the phone for about an hour on December 2, on a German initiative, on the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war.
Talks with Putin are controversial
Scholz had told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” about the war that “in the end there would have to be an agreement between the governments in Moscow and Kiev”. It has been some time since his last phone call with the Kremlin chief. “But I intend to speak to Putin again in due course,” said the Chancellor. The question of whether talks with Putin still make sense is controversial.
Scholz warned against counting on freezing the war against Ukraine along the territory that has been conquered so far. “Russia must understand that it cannot be about concluding a kind of cold peace – for example by turning the existing front line into the new ‘border’ between Russia and Ukraine. That would only legitimize Putin’s robbery,” he said. “It’s more about a fair peace, and the prerequisite for this is the withdrawal of Russian troops.”
Source: Stern
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