diplomacy
Kremlin: There are no issues for Putin and Scholz
Russia reacts reservedly to Chancellor Scholz’s plans to call Kremlin chief Putin (archive image) Photo
© —Kay Nietfeld/dpa/AP/sputnik/dpa
There was a long period of radio silence between Moscow and Berlin after the Russian attack on Ukraine. Now Chancellor Scholz is still thinking about a phone call with Kremlin leader Putin. Moscow reacts reservedly.
The Kremlin has cooled speculation about an upcoming phone call between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin reacts. “At first glance, there are no common topics (for a conversation), our relations have effectively been reduced to zero and not on our initiative,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news agencies. Putin is and remains open to dialogue, he emphasized.
Scholz last spoke to Putin by phone in December 2022. He had called for a diplomatic solution and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
Putin, in turn, criticized Western military aid to Kyiv at the time. According to the Kremlin, she is to blame for the fact that there are no negotiations. In order to end its war of aggression, Russia is demanding, among other things, that Ukraine give up additional territories, forego joining NATO and so-called denazification. The Russian leadership probably understands this to mean the establishment of a government loyal to Moscow in Kyiv.