German Chancellor holds call with Putin, breaking Western isolation over Russia

(Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke this Friday with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. It is the first call in almost two years and comes as the German leader prepares for an early election in his own country, while Europe waits to hear Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Ukraine.

In a phone call that was quickly criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Scholz urged Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would pave the way for a “just and lasting peace,” the German government reported.

The Kremlin said the conversation had taken place at Berlin’s request, and that Putin had told Scholz that any agreement to end the war in Ukraine must take into account Russian security interests and reflect “new territorial realities.”

The call opened a “Pandora’s box” by undermining efforts to isolate the Russian leader, Zelensky said. He and other European officials had warned Scholz against the initiative, according to sources familiar with the matter, who believed it was more for domestic consumption.

Scholz faces a snap election on February 23, so his party’s Social Democrats are under pressure from Russia-friendly populists on both sides of the political spectrum, who argue that the government has not made enough diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. the war.

“The chancellor urged Russia to show readiness to engage in talks with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace,” a German government spokesperson said in a statement.

“(It also) highlighted Germany’s unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression for as long as necessary,” the spokesperson added.

However, Ukraine said that the telephone conversations with Putin do not bring added value on the path to achieving a “just peace,” but only help him break his isolation.

“Now there may be other conversations, other calls. “They are just words,” Zelensky said in his afternoon speech. “And this is exactly what Putin has wanted for a long time: it is extremely important for him to break his isolation and conduct ordinary negotiations.”

The call comes the week after Trump’s victory in the US election. The Republican has suggested he could quickly end the war, without explaining how he would do that, and has repeatedly criticized the scale of financial aid and Western military for Kyiv.

“It sends a bad signal, especially after Trump’s election,” said one Western diplomat, noting that his country had told Berlin that the call was not a good idea.

“My hope is that Scholz can now say to his electorate: ‘Look, I’ve done it, and it’s a waste of time since Putin is not open to anything.’ But, of course, (it is a) question of how the issue is presented by Russia.”

The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, does not plan to talk with Putin, said a source close to him.

The Kremlin said Putin had told Scholz that Russia was willing to consider energy deals if Germany was interested. Germany was heavily dependent on Russian gas before the war, but direct shipments ceased when gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea were blown up in 2022.

Scholz plans to brief Zelensky, Germany’s allies, partners and heads of the European Union and NATO about the outcome of Friday’s call, German officials said. Putin and Scholz agreed to stay in touch, they added.

Ukraine faces increasingly difficult conditions on the front line in the east of the country amid shortages of weapons and personnel as Russian forces steadily advance.

In a separate communication, a German government official said Scholz had told Putin that the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia for combat missions against Ukraine was considered a serious escalation and expansion of the conflict.

Zelensky says North Korea has 11,000 troops in Russia and some have suffered casualties in combat against Ukrainian forces currently occupying territory in Russia’s southern Kursk region.

Germany has given Ukraine a total of 15 billion euros (approximately US$15.818 million) in financial, humanitarian and military support since the start of the large-scale war, becoming Kyiv’s second-largest backer after the United States.

The future of US aid to Ukraine is uncertain following Trump’s election victory.

Scholz and Putin last spoke in December 2022, 10 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, plunging relations with the West into their deepest freeze since the Cold War.