German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin was a strategic mistake, which weakened European unity in the face of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said this on Monday, TASR reports, according to a Reuters report.
Tsahkna said on the sidelines of the meeting of EU foreign ministers that extensive international criticism of Scholz’s phone call will deter other European leaders from talking to Putin.
The German chancellor spoke with Putin on the phone for almost an hour on Friday. It was their first phone call in almost two years. Scholz defended the conversation with the Russian president, saying it was a way to make it clear to Putin that support for Ukraine would not be reduced.
However, according to the Estonian head of diplomacy, this phone call harmed the West’s efforts to isolate the Russian president. “It was a strategic mistake,” Tsahkna said. “We agreed in principle that we will keep Putin in isolation,” he added, this position should be maintained until the Russian president shows a willingness to participate in meaningful negotiations and withdraw his troops from Ukraine.
Putin is currently doing the exact opposite, Tsahkna said. After Scholz’s phone call with Putin, Russia even launched one of the harshest attacks on Ukraine in recent months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Sunday that Russia attacked the entire territory of the country with 120 missiles and 90 drones. At least ten people were killed and more than 50 were injured in the city of Sumy. Monday’s rocket attack on the city of Odessa left at least ten dead and more than 40 injured.
“It only weakened our unity and our positions,” declared the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
