German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian leader Vladimir Putin plan to talk by phone today, November 15. This will be their first direct conversation since December 2022.
UPD: as of 16:00 Scholz and Putin have already spoken, their conversation lasted an hour.
Bloomberg writes about this with reference to sources.
On November 10, Olaf Scholz said in the ARD Caren Miosga program that he would like to talk to Putin again "in the near future", but he would not do it alone. He also added that before their conversation, "many contacts and conversations with many others" are needed, and specified that the conversation will take place with the knowledge of Ukraine.
At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov stated that there were allegedly no signals for a telephone conversation with Putin from Berlin.
During Scholzʼs last conversation with Putin, the German chancellor called on the latter to resolve the issue diplomatically and withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine.
- Germany is one of the leading countries in Europe in military aid to Ukraine. In addition to the IRIS-T and Patriot air defense systems, the Federal Republic of Germany handed over to the Ukrainian army Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks of various modifications, MARS II and M142 HIMARS assault rifles, Marder IFVs and Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, a large number of armored vehicles and vehicles, etc.
- Germanyʼs contribution exceeds that of the United States. However, European leaders now fear that with the coming to power of the US President-elect Donald Trump, American aid to Ukraine will decrease. Europe is now calling on Joe Bidenʼs administration to step up supplies to Ukraine and introduce new sanctions against Russia before Trumpʼs inauguration.
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