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Scholz reiterates readiness to talk to Putin about peace in Ukraine
Scholz said such talks should be conducted in cooperation with German partners. In early October, Die Zeit reported that the prime minister planned to call President Putin. The Kremlin said it had not received a call from Berlin.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a speech to the Bundestag that he was ready to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin about a just peace in Ukraine, and his words were quoted in the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
"When we were asked if we would talk to the Russian president, we said yes," Scholz said.
According to him, negotiations with President Putin should be conducted "in cooperation with close partners."
On October 1, Die Zeit reported, citing sources, that Scholz was planning to speak to President Putin by phone in the near future. The newspaper reported that the talks could take place shortly before the G20 summit in Brazil in November, adding that no request had yet been received from Berlin.
The Kremlin also said Germany did not request the phone call.
Last week, German Foreign Minister Annalena Barbock said Putin had refused to talk to Scholz. "He is not prepared to talk to the German chancellor on the phone right now," Barbock said.
"We now need a meeting with both Ukraine and Russia," the prime minister said earlier this month. Last September, Scholz called for second peace talks on Ukraine with Russia. Russia has ruled out participation in a second "peace summit."
In August, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow's willingness to negotiate with Kiev "should not arouse suspicion in anyone," but that made no sense after Ukrainian troops attacked the lost Kursk region. He also noted that while it would be relatively easy for Moscow and Kyiv to agree on peace at the Istanbul talks in 2022, the situation was now more complicated. There was no question of the status of Russian territory, he stressed. Putin said that while Ukraine was satisfied with the Istanbul agreement, Kyiv had not been allowed to implement it.