President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that the phone call between President Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin would open a “Pandora's Box” after the German chancellor and the Russian leader discussed the Ukraine war in an unusual phone call. I warned you.
In the first telephone conversation between a major Western leader and President Putin since December 2022, Scholz urged the Russian side to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and negotiate with Kiev to achieve a just and lasting peace. requested.
The hour-long phone conversation came after Putin reportedly spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The incoming Trump administration has vowed to urge an early end to the war in Ukraine.
German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz underlined Germany's unwavering determination to support Ukraine in Russia's “war of aggression” for as long as possible.
The Hevest Light newspaper reported that Scholz spoke with Zelensky before his phone call with Putin, and was planning a phone call with Kiev afterwards. He said Scholz would brief Western allies about his meeting with Putin.
Putin told Scholz that any agreement on Ukraine should take into account “new territorial realities” and address the root causes of the conflict, according to a reading of the conversation posted by the Kremlin.
Referring to his speech in June in which he advocated an extremist position to end the war, President Putin said that Russia's demands for an end to the conflict were well known, saying, “Ukraine has abandoned its NATO ambitions.'' , we will have to withdraw all military forces from around the world.” Four areas of territory claimed by Russia.
Mr. Scholz had recently indicated his intention to have direct contact with President Putin, and the Kremlin said it was open to dialogue.
The telephone conversation between the two leaders comes at a critical juncture in Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine. While Russian forces are advancing rapidly in eastern Ukraine, the Russian government, with support from North Korean soldiers, is planning a major offensive to drive them out of the western Kursk region.
Scholz told Putin that the deployment of North Korean soldiers, which the Russian government has not officially recognized, was a “serious escalation” of the war. The two leaders agreed to continue to maintain contact.
Mr. Scholz's willingness to engage with President Putin is likely to cause discontent in Ukraine, whose future has become uncertain with President Trump's victory, and concerns have grown that the United States may cut off military aid. There is.
According to Reuters, Zelenskiy warned Scholz not to speak by phone with Putin, saying it would lessen the isolation of the Russian leader and allow the war to continue.
In his evening speech, Zelenskiy said Scholz's phone call with President Putin had undermined efforts to isolate the Russian leader and opened a “Pandora's Box”.
“Now there may be another conversation, another phone call. Just a lot of words. And this is exactly what President Putin has wanted for a long time, and reducing isolation is very important to him.” said Zelenskiy.
President Zelensky has been trying to woo Trump in recent days, telling a Ukrainian broadcaster that under the new administration, Russia's war against his country would “end faster.”
“The war will definitely end, but there is no exact date set. Of course, with the policies of this team that will now lead the White House, the war will end sooner,” he told Suspline on Friday. He stressed that a “just peace” is essential for Ukraine.
Last week, Germany was plunged into political turmoil after the decision to fire Finance Minister Scholz, a move that led to the collapse of the government. A snap general election will be held in Germany on February 23rd.
Ukraine has played a key role in the country's political crisis, with disputes over how to continue funding the country contributing to its fallout.
Another point of contention in Germany is Scholz's refusal to allow Ukraine to attack Russian territory with Taurus long-range missiles. Mr. Scholz said this week that he supported his decision not to supply Kiev with missiles, arguing that this approach helped avoid an escalation of the war.
Putin's main opponent, Conservative Party leader Friedrich Merz, has taken a more hawkish position on military aid to Ukraine, warning that if Putin does not stop bombing civilian targets. He has reportedly expressed his intention to allow the use of Taurus missiles.
Germany, Ukraine's second-largest supporter after the United States, has warned that if President Trump makes good on his threat to reduce support for Kiev, it could end up taking a much larger share of the war effort. facing concerns. In a bid to calm tensions across Europe, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Brussels on Wednesday and pledged to step up support for Ukraine until President Trump takes office.
Putin has not spoken to most NATO or Western leaders since 2022, when the European Union and the United States imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia after it launched a shocking offensive into Ukraine.
President Trump claimed he would end the war in Ukraine “within a day” of returning to the White House, but gave no details on how that would be accomplished.
