Two years of radio silence

Scholz spoke to Putin on the phone again for the first time

Scholz apparently made the phone call in preparation for the G20 summit, for which he is leaving for Brazil on Sunday.

(Bild: Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

According to Reuters, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone in Berlin on Friday. The conversation was the first contact since December 2022, they said.

"The Federal Chancellor urged Russia's willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of a just and lasting peace," government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said after the roughly one-hour conversation.

Ukraine continues to have his back
Scholz also reaffirmed Germany's unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its defensive struggle against Russian aggression for as long as necessary. Scholz spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj on the phone on Wednesday. According to Hebestreit, Scholz now wants to call him again afterwards. He last spoke to Putin on the phone on December 2, 2022.

The last time Scholz met Putin in person was just over a week before the Russian attack on Ukraine during his inaugural visit to Moscow. Due to coronavirus, the two sat at a huge oval table meters apart in the Kremlin. After the invasion, there were still individual phone calls, but these then broke off. This was mainly due to the Russian war in Ukraine and the lack of any prospect of concrete results.

Conversation at a critical time
The timing of the conversation is likely to be linked to the upcoming G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which Scholz is attending on Sunday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is also expected to attend.

Putin himself had canceled his participation in the summit on October 18 so as not to "disrupt the normal work of the forum", which had other topics. An international arrest warrant has been issued against Putin by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. He would risk arrest in Brazil.

The meeting took place at a critical time for Ukraine. The country is preparing for its third winter of war since the start of the Russian invasion. As in previous winters, Russia is likely to target the already severely damaged energy infrastructure in particular.

Scholz wants to prevent escalation
In view of the break-up of the traffic light coalition in Germany, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock recently called for further German arms packages for Ukraine. After the USA, Germany is the biggest supporter of the government in Kiev. However, the Chancellor regularly emphasizes that further escalation and direct involvement of the West in the war must be prevented.

For this reason, Scholz refuses to allow Ukraine to attack targets on Russian territory with weapons supplied by Germany, with a few exceptions. The Chancellor also refuses to supply the Taurus cruise missile with a range of 500 kilometers, despite repeated demands from Ukraine.