Russia has been at war with Ukraine for more than six months. Now Chancellor Scholz has given insights into his talks with Putin.
According to a media report, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described the telephone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of the attack on Ukraine as “always friendly in tone”. This was the case, even if there were “very, very different, even very different views on the matter” that he had clearly presented, Scholz said in the “Interview of the Week” on Deutschlandfunk. When he sums up all the talks he’s had with Putin recently, there have been “definite movements.” These were just not very far-reaching, said Scholz.
After a break of several months, the chancellor called Putin again on Tuesday. According to the government, the interview lasted 90 minutes. Scholz insisted that a diplomatic solution to the Russian war in Ukraine be found as soon as possible, based on a ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Russian troops and respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.