On November 15, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a telephone conversation with Putin for the first time in almost two years. Their conversation, which lasted about an hour, about the war in Ukraine and ways to end it took place against the backdrop of the government crisis in Berlin, the election campaign that began in Germany and on the eve of the German leader’s departure for the G20 summit in Brazil.
Scholz said his conversation with the Kremlin dictator last Friday showed no sign of a change in the Russian president’s views on the war in Ukraine, but defended a decision to make a phone call to the Kremlin for which he has been criticized, Reuters writes.
Speaking to reporters at Berlin airport on Sunday before flying to Brazil for the G20 summit, Scholz said the call to Putin was necessary to dispel any illusions he might harbor that the West was about to withdraw its support for Ukraine.
The Chancellor added that, given the imminent return of Donald Trump to the US presidency, it would also be bad if Washington maintained regular contacts with Putin, but not a single European leader did.
According to Scholz, the conversation with Putin was “very detailed,” but at the same time it became clear that little had changed in the Russian president’s views on the war.
And that’s bad news,” he told reporters.
Among those who criticized Scholz for his conversation with the Russian president was Vladimir Zelensky. The President of Ukraine believes that Scholz “opened Pandora’s box.”
Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words. And exactly what Putin has long wanted: it is extremely important for him to weaken his isolation, the isolation of Russia and conduct ordinary negotiations that will not end in anything,” Zelensky said.
According to Reuters, the Ukrainian president refused Scholz’s call from Putin.
Media reaction
German media differed in their assessments of the conversation.
Scholz is fighting for the voters of the SSS and the AfN. The right step, writes tagesschau. The publication gives four reasons why it considers the pre-arranged call to the Kremlin justified and timely.
The first is internal political. Recent regional elections in East Germany showed that people care about issues of war and peace.
Many voters cast their ballots for the NER, which demands more diplomatic initiatives to end the war, the material says.
We are talking about the “Sarah Wagenknecht Union”. Before the early federal elections, Scholz decided not to hand over the topic to either this left-wing populist party or the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (ADN), and before the elections this will not hurt him, the publication believes.
The second reason why the conversation with Putin was “the right and important step” is the preliminary discussion of this call with allies and partners, according to tagesschau.
Third: after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, it was “a smart move to prevent him from being the first to renew contact with Putin for a long time,” the commentary says.
Fourthly, it was also a signal for Russia itself.
No decisions will be made there without Putin. In order to somehow end this war, you will have to talk with Putin. Making him sit down at the negotiating table is also Zelensky’s demand. Scholz prepares this at least a little with the help of a telephone conversation, and therefore he is on the right path, we are confident in tagesschau.
Der Spiegel has a different opinion. The publication on the website of this left-liberal political weekly is called “60 Sobering Minutes.” Its authors are the publication’s chief reporter Matthias Gebauer and the head of the Moscow bureau Christina Hebel.
What Putin proposed during the conversation is aimed at the capitulation of Ukraine. The Kremlin knows that Scholz is unlikely to agree to negotiations. But they also know that Scholz is facing early elections, which could lead to the loss of his position in the office of the Federal Chancellor. In Moscow, he is considered a lame duck – the head of a government that decides nothing, writes the weekly.
According to the authors of the article, Scholz’s call came in handy on the road and is well suited for propaganda within Russia.
Putin shows that Western heads of government want to talk to him again. Russian state media emphasized that it was Scholz who asked for the telephone conversation. Has Scholz fallen into the Kremlin’s propaganda trap? – Der Spiegel journalists ask a rhetorical question.
They explain his actions mainly by internal political motives: early elections to the Bundestag scheduled for February 23, 2025, which could result in defeat for the Social Democrats. Before the elections to the European Parliament at the beginning of the summer, Olaf Scholz tried to present himself as a “chancellor of peace” and emphasized that he was pursuing sound policies, the weekly recalls.
Diplomatic success on the Ukraine issue would clearly benefit the chancellor during the election campaign. However, his conversation with Putin shows that one should not count on progress, the journalists conclude.
Scholz is trying to demonstrate his capacity to the G20 leaders, according to the ZDF television company.
As a failed government chancellor, Scholz is now heading to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. There he will meet with leaders of countries such as China, India, and Brazil. All of them take, to put it mildly, a neutral position regarding the conflict in Ukraine. The Chancellor, who has effectively lost power within the country, wants to demonstrate his capacity on the international stage by pointing out that he just spoke with Putin, correspondent Wulf Schmise believes.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.