The leaders of Russia and Germany spoke for the first time in nearly two years on Friday as the Kremlin repeated a demand that Ukraine accept the “new territorial realities” created by its invasion and abandon its hopes of Nato membership forever.
The Kremlin said Russian president Vladimir Putin told German chancellor Olaf Scholz that his “proposals are well known” and were made clear in a speech in June, when he said Kyiv must accept the loss of five regions that Russia now claims as its own and must sign away any prospect of joining the western military alliance. At the time, Ukraine dismissed those terms as “absurd” and tantamount to giving up its sovereignty.
Mr Putin “recalled that the current crisis was a direct result of Nato’s long-standing aggressive policy aimed at creating an anti-Russian bridgehead on Ukrainian territory while ignoring our country’s security interests and trampling on the rights of Russian-speaking residents”, the Kremlin said in its readout of the call with Mr Scholz.
“The state of Russian-German relations was also touched upon. Vladimir Putin noted their unprecedented degradation in all areas as a consequence of the unfriendly course of the German authorities,” the Kremlin added.
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Mr Scholz’s office said he “condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw troops”.
He also urged Russia “to show willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace” and “stressed Germany’s unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression for as long as necessary”.
In separate comments on a call that lasted for about one hour, unnamed sources in Mr Scholz’s government reportedly said he had “condemned Russian air attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine” and told Mr Putin that the deployment of North Korean troops against Ukraine would be a “serious escalation” of an all-out invasion that began in February 2022.
Mr Scholz’s office said he spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy before the call with Mr Putin and planned to do so again afterwards. There was no immediate comment from Mr Zelenskiy’s administration.
Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on social media that he also spoke to Mr Scholz after 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.’”
Kyiv and its European allies have no idea how US president-elect Donald Trump will approach the war when he returns to the White House in January, but he has said he will only need one day to end Europe’s biggest conflict since 1945.
“It’s gotta stop,” Mr Trump said during a speech in Florida on Thursday evening. “Russia and Ukraine’s gotta stop.”
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