Volodymyr Zelenskyj angry about Scholz’s phone call with Putin

Chancellor Olaf Scholz antagonized Ukraine with his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in almost two years. “In my opinion, Olaf’s call opens Pandora’s Box,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his evening video message. Berlin had informed Kiev beforehand, but this now made further discussions possible.

With his call, Scholz fulfilled Putin’s long-held wish to reduce Russia’s isolation and begin discussions that will ultimately lead to nothing. Putin had done this for decades, said Zelensky. “That allowed Russia not to change its policy, to do basically nothing, and that led to this war,” the president emphasized.

In his conversation with the Kremlin chief, Scholz called on Putin to end the war of aggression against Ukraine and withdraw his troops. At the same time, the Chancellor urged Putin “to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of a just and lasting peace,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit after the hour-long conversation. He also reaffirmed Germany’s unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression for as long as necessary.

Putin expressed his willingness to negotiate under certain conditions. According to the Kremlin, he insisted that a solution must take Moscow’s security interests into account and “start from the new territorial realities.” Ukraine must also renounce NATO membership and recognize the loss of the territories occupied by Russia. Kyiv and its Western allies categorically reject this.

With the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and in the course of the war of aggression since February 2022, Russia has occupied around 20 percent of Ukraine, which it counts as its national territory. That’s probably what Putin means by the “new territorial conditions.” Zelensky categorically rejects Ukraine giving up territory.

Because of the attack on Ukraine, the West has largely shut down high-level communication channels to Moscow. Scholz now initiated the conversation with Putin. The last time the two spoke on the phone was on December 2, 2022. The last personal meeting was almost three years ago. It took place a week before the Russian attack on Ukraine in the Kremlin, where the two sat meters apart at a huge oval table because of Corona.

After the invasion there were still individual phone calls, but then they broke off. This mainly had to do with the Russian conduct of the war and the lack of prospects for concrete results.

On Tuesday, the Russian war of aggression will last exactly 1,000 days with tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. Germany is Ukraine’s second most important arms supplier behind the USA and has already sent tanks, artillery, air defense systems and other weapons and armaments worth billions of euros to the war zone. Scholz rejects Ukraine’s request for long-range weapons such as the Taurus cruise missile because he sees it as a risk of escalation.

According to government sources, Scholz particularly condemned the Russian air strikes against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. He also made it clear that sending North Korean soldiers to Russia for combat missions would involve a “serious escalation and expansion of the conflict.”

Scholz emphasized “Germany’s unwavering determination” to support Ukraine in its defensive fight. He emphasized that the support is long-term and that the Russian president cannot count on “time being on his side,” it said.

According to the Kremlin, Putin countered Scholz by saying that the war was the result of years of aggressive NATO policy, which wanted to turn Ukraine into a staging area directed against Russia. The Russian President also noted an unprecedented decline in Russian-German relations – “as a result of the unfriendly course of the Federal Republic of Germany authorities.” At the same time, Putin said, with a view to Russian energy deliveries in the past, that Russia had always fulfilled its contracts and was ready to resume cooperation for mutual benefit.

According to both sides, Scholz and Putin agreed to stay in touch. The Chancellor had telephoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in preparation for the conversation. According to Hebestreit, the Chancellor wanted to call Selenskyj again afterwards.

Scholz is currently trying to hold a second Ukraine peace conference after a summit in Switzerland last summer, in which Russia could also take part. So far there is no date in sight for this.

Scholz had repeatedly said in recent months that he was ready to talk to Putin. He just wants to find the right time. The one now chosen is likely to be related to the upcoming G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which Scholz is heading to on Sunday.

The G20 of the leading economic powers from all continents is the only discussion format in which Russia and the NATO states still sit at the same table at a high level. Scholz does not plan to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov there. According to those close to him, he will speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is considered Putin’s most important ally, about the Ukraine war.

Putin himself canceled his participation in the summit in order not to “disrupt the normal work of the forum,” which has other topics. There is an international arrest warrant against him from the World Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. He would risk arrest in Brazil.

Ukraine is not part of the G20. Zelensky was also not invited to Rio as a guest by the Brazilian hosts.

After Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, Russia once again signaled its fundamental willingness to engage in dialogue about Ukraine – including with Scholz. Moscow sees nervousness in the West regarding Ukraine.

Trump announced during the election campaign that he would end the Ukraine war within a very short time through a deal with Russia. He didn’t give any details. Putin congratulated Trump on his election victory last week and appeared open to dialogue. At the same time, he emphasized that Trump is unpredictable and therefore it remains to be seen what will follow his announcements.