German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced during a speech at the German Protestant Church Congress in Nuremberg that he intends to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin via phone. Scholz’s primary objective is to urge Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine. This information was reported by Reuters.
Scholz revealed that he has previously engaged in phone conversations with Putin and expressed his intention to do so again in the near future. This plan was initially mentioned by Scholz in an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper in January of this year.
The most recent phone conversation between Putin and Scholz took place in early December. During that call, the Russian president criticized Germany and other Western nations for their approach to the Ukrainian conflict, deeming it destructive and calling for a reassessment. While Western countries have vehemently condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began last February under the pretext of demilitarization and denationalization, they have responded by imposing a series of anti-Russian sanctions and providing substantial support to Ukraine, including military assistance.
Scholz emphasized that the previous phone conversations were conducted without rudeness. However, Putin persisted in his stance of occupying parts of Ukraine, a position deemed unacceptable by the German chancellor.
