The German chancellor said today (11/17) that the telephone conversation he had with the previous day, Friday, did not provide any indication of a change in the position of the Russian president on the war in Ukraine, but he defended his decision to call the Kremlin, the which caused a lot of criticism.
which lasted an hour, the first direct communication in almost two years, took place three months before snap elections in which the barely popular chancellor faces a very likely heavy defeat for himself and his party.
Critics, including Volodymyr Zelensky, said the phone call was a violation of Western solidarity for domestic political gain. The statements given by the president of Ukraine were full of barbs against Solz who, according to Zelensky, “opened Pandora’s Box”.
“It was important to tell him [στον Πούτιν] that he cannot count on declining support from Germany, Europe and many others in the world,” Scholz told reporters.
“The conversation was very detailed but helped to establish that not much has changed in the Russian president’s views on the war in Ukraine – and that is not good news.”
The call came amid signs of growing contact between Western-aligned leaders and the Kremlin, even as Russia makes small but steady gains on the ground in eastern Ukraine.
“This has consequences for Europe”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, former prime minister of NATO member Portugal, attended a BRICS summit in Russia, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to attend a security summit in member Malta of the European Union, in December.
Re-elected US President Donald Trump has said he can bring a swift end to the war and has appointed to his staff several figures seen as more sympathetic to Moscow than their predecessors. This has implications for Europe, said Soltz.
He added that it would not be good if Washington had regular contact with Putin while no European leader did. The Kremlin, however, has categorically denied that there was a conversation between Trump and Putin.
However, to justify his own communication with Putin, which it is true that there was, Scholz claimed today: “In my opinion it would not be a good idea to have talks between the American and Russian president without the leader of a major European country to also hold talks”.
