The German chancellor said he plans to resume contact with the Russian president “at the appropriate time”, and warned that Moscow cannot end hostilities in Ukraine with “cold peace”.
In an interview with the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper published on May 26, Prime Minister Olaf Scholz said: “My most recent talks with Putin took place a long time ago. But I plan to soon. plan to hold talks again with the Russian leader at an appropriate time.”
The move opens up the prospect of resumption of contact between the two European powers after the bilateral relationship broke down almost completely since the Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022.
President Putin and Prime Minister Scholz held a phone call several times after this turning point.
In a phone call in September 2022 and lasted 90 minutes, Prime Minister Scholz urged President Putin to come up with a diplomatic solution “based on a truce”.
The two leaders then had a phone conversation, the last time in early December 2022, which focused on discussing issues related to the implementation of the agreement to export grain of Ukraine from ports in the Black Sea. and the lifting of restrictions on Russian food and fertilizer exports.
In that hour-long phone call, Scholz also urged President Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine, while the Russian leader accused the West of pursuing “destructive” policies.
Since then, tensions between Moscow and Berlin have escalated, especially over the decision of Chancellor Scholz’s government to send German-made heavy battle tanks to Ukraine in January.
In this interview, Prime Minister Scholz also affirmed that his goal is still to “actively support Ukraine”, but “at the same time prevent direct conflict between NATO and Russia”.
“And we must never act alone, but must work closely with our friends and allies,” he stressed.
When asked about the prospect of averting conflict through negotiations, Scholz said, Putin must understand that it is not possible to end war by making “some kind of cold peace”. “For example, by turning the existing front line into a new ‘border’ between Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
“Instead, the parties should strive to achieve a just peace, and the precondition for that is the withdrawal of Russian troops,” the German leader said.
