Scholz justified himself for the conversation with Putin.

The Chancellor of Germany spoke with the President of the Russian Federation

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany called President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation for the first Time since 2022. This was reported by Reuters.

The conversation lasted over an hour, and the main topic of discussion was Russia's war against Ukraine and the issue of support for Kyiv from other Western countries.

'Moscow's position remains unchanged. Unfortunately, this is bad news,' Scholz stated after the conversation at a briefing.

The local and international community reacted in various ways to this diplomatic statement by the German Chancellor. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Scholz's decision, calling it 'an attempt to use international politics for domestic political purposes.'

Political and international factors

Experts linked Scholz's unexpected contact with Putin to two key factors. Firstly, due to the Chancellor's low ratings before the early elections that will take place in three months in Germany. Secondly, there has been an increase in contacts between Western leaders and the Russian Kremlin lately.

In particular, UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently attended the BRICS summit in Russia, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to attend a security summit in Malta.

'Germany, as a leading country in Europe, must participate in important international negotiations, especially now when there is an opportunity for direct contacts between the USA and Russia,' Scholz explained his position.