DW – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly spoke on the phone for around an hour on Friday, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin.
Scholz was said to have urged Putin to enter negotiations for a “just and lasting” peace with Ukraine.
The spokesman also said Scholz had spoken with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy beforehand, and that the chancellor had reiterated Germany would support Ukraine for as long as necessary.
Insiders in Scholz’s government issued an off-the-record summary of the call to various outlets, including DW, offering more details.
They said that Scholz condemned the war of aggression against Ukraine, “which has brought death, suffering and destruction to Ukraine for more than 1,000 days now.”
“The chancellor particularly condemned Russian air attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” they said.
Scholz also criticized the potential deployment of North Korean troops in the conflict as a “serious escalation.”
The German leader called on Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Ukraine and “pressed for a willingness from Russia for serious negotiations with Ukraine with the goal of a just and lasting peace.”
The chancellor, whose time in the office may now be limited after developments in Berlin last week, was also said to have “emphasized Germany’s unshakable commitment to support Ukraine in its defensive battle for as long as is necessary.”
He told Putin that as a result of this, the Russian leader could not assume time was on his side.
The two leaders agreed to remain in contact on the issue, according to the insiders. Berlin’s government was also in the process of informing NATO allies of the details.
