German leader’s call to Putin ends Western isolation over Ukraine, infuriates allies

Berlin: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on Friday with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president’s first publicly announced conversation with the sitting head of a major Western power in nearly two years.

Scholz urged Putin to be open to negotiations with Ukraine, his office said.

The Kremlin leader responded that any peace deal should acknowledge Russia’s territorial gains and security demands, including that Kyiv renounces its plans to join NATO.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) on a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Credit: Bundesregierung via Getty Images

Ukraine blasted Scholz’s telephone diplomacy with Putin and many of Kyiv’s allies took a dim view of the call.

The first direct communication between Scholz and Putin in almost two years – marking a shift from allied efforts to isolate the Russian leader since his invasion – drew quick criticism.

“This is exactly what Putin has wanted for a long time,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address to the nation on Friday. “It is extremely important for him to decrease his isolation, the isolation of Russia, and conduct the usual negotiations that will end in nothing.”

Scholz during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on November 13.Credit: Bundesregierung via Getty Images

The move comes at a critical moment for Kyiv, which is bracing for another winter under attack from Russia with large parts of the country’s energy infrastructure damaged or destroyed.

The impending return to the White House of Donald Trump, who has questioned support for Ukraine, has deepened doubts about whether allied backing for Kyiv may fade.

Trump’s election will mean “the war will end quicker”, Zelensky said in an interview with the Suspilne website released on Friday.

Scholz’s renewed effort to communicate with Putin may align with Trump’s repeated pledge to end the conflict quickly, having said he could resolve the war by his January 20 inauguration.

In an interview with Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Scholz said that after a phone call with Trump, he came away with the impression he has a “more nuanced position” on Ukraine than most in Germany expect of him.

Scholz denounced Moscow’s air attacks on civilian infrastructure and called the deployment of North Korean troops a grave escalation in the more than two-and-a-half-year war, according to officials in Berlin who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Scholz and Putin agreed to remain in contact, the officials said. The call was first reported by Bloomberg News on Friday.

But the diplomatic foray irked European Union allies who have long regarded direct talks with Putin as largely meaningless. Friday’s exchange wasn’t signalled to a majority of member states, an EU official said.

Scholz had discussed a potential call with leaders of the US, Britain and France, but the timing wasn’t clear, said an official close to French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron’s efforts to maintain an open line with the Kremlin in the first months of the war fell flat – and angered Kyiv.

Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire towards Russian positions at the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine in August.Credit: AP

One European government official derided Scholz’s move as useless. An official from another government said the chancellor was acting from a position of weakness and suggested he would be better off dealing with his domestic issues.

Scholz informed Zelensky of his plan during a conversation on Wednesday, but the Ukrainian leader responded that such a move would only play into Putin’s hands and urged him not to do it, according to a person familiar with the conversation.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, long a vocal opponent of Putin, welcomed the German leader’s criticism of Russia’s war aims after Scholz briefed him on the call.

“I was satisfied to hear that he not only condemned the Russian aggression but he also reiterated the Polish position: ‘Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’,” he said in a post on X.

The Kremlin confirmed the exchange, saying in a statement that Putin noted Russia “has never refused and remains open” to talks but any agreement must consider Russia’s security interests, including “new territorial realities”, it said in a statement.

The Russian statement called the conversation “detailed and frank”, with Putin reinforcing his position that the crisis resulted from NATO’s “aggressive policy”.

Scholz’s political leverage is undermined by domestic problems – and a February 23 snap election, for which he is trailing in the polls.

In an address to parliament on Wednesday, Scholz assured MPs that his outgoing administration would stand by its commitment to Ukraine – even as he reinforced his rejection of delivering long-range weapons such as Taurus cruise missiles, a decision that’s been criticised by other allies of Ukraine.

Bloomberg, Reuters

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