Scholz urges Putin in phone call to open talks with Ukraine

BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in their first phone call in nearly two years to pull his forces out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would open the way for a “just and lasting peace”.

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

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

“He stressed Germany’s unbroken determination to back Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression for as long as necessary,” the spokesperson added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned Scholz against holding the call with Putin, according to a source in Zelensky’s office.

“The president (Zelensky) said this would only help Putin by reducing his isolation. Putin doesn’t want real peace, he wants a break,” the Ukrainian source told Reuters.

It was not immediately clear why Scholz chose to speak now to Putin but the call comes amid setbacks for Ukraine on the battlefield and increased concerns among Kyiv’s Western allies about US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans on Ukraine.

Trump has repeatedly criticised the scale of Western financial and military aid for Kyiv.

Adding to the mood of uncertainty, Germany will hold a snap election on Feb 23 in which Scholz’s Social Democrats face a stiff challenge from left-wing and far-right parties that oppose Berlin’s strong backing for Ukraine.

“Scholz believes his communication with Putin would strengthen his hand internally, before the election,” wrote Daniel Szeligowski of the Polish Institute for International Affairs on social media.

Meanwhile, President Zelensky said the German chancellor’s phone call with Russia’s leader on Friday opened a “Pandora’s box” that undermined efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin and end the war in Ukraine with a “fair peace”.

Zelensky said Moscow had repeatedly used negotiations to advance its interests at Ukraine’s expense, alluding to numerous rounds of talks over the war with Russian-backed paramilitaries that erupted in Ukraine’s east in 2014 before the 2022 invasion.

“This gave Russia the opportunity not to change anything in its policy, not to do anything in essence, and this is exactly what led to this war,” he said in his evening address.