German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to seek contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin again. Although his last conversation was some time ago, he recently explained that he wanted to speak to the Kremlin boss again in due course. Russia’s elite seems visibly impressed. “It is necessary to talk,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Since the beginning of Russia’s brutal war of aggression, the West has repeatedly tried to find a basis for talks with Moscow. Lately, however, there has been no sign of it. Germany’s Chancellor Scholz now wants to try again. Do not legitimize Putin’s robbery As he explained to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”, the withdrawal of Russian troops is a prerequisite for a “fair peace”. However, Russia must understand that it cannot be about a kind of “cold peace” – “in which the current front line becomes the new ‘border’ between Russia and Ukraine. That would only legitimize Putin’s robbery,” said Scholz with conviction. What about Crimea? It is uncertain whether this also applies to the SPD politician for the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which has been annexed by Russia since 2014. He avoided a related question by repeating the words: “Withdrawal of troops,” and then added: “It is not up to us to formulate what agreements Ukraine intends to make on its behalf.” Troops” instead of “retreat of the troops” is not clearly derivable whether all troops are meant. Nor did he want to answer the question of whether Putin should be overthrown. “I don’t believe in such speculative questions. In the end, there will have to be an agreement between the governments in Moscow and Kiev,” he said. Russia protects its interests Peskov said on Friday that Scholz has not called or Berlin has initiated such an initiative for a conversation. “President Putin remains open to dialogue, but of course he is pursuing the fundamental goal of protecting the interests of our citizens.” According to the Kremlin, Putin and Scholz last spoke on the phone for about an hour on December 2, on a German initiative, about the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of the war.
