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Like the vast majority of Western leaders, the German Chancellor had not spoken with the Russian President for almost two years. During a telephone conversation on Friday, Olaf Scholz urged his Russian counterpart to negotiate with kyiv while recalling his unwavering support for his Ukrainian ally. Vladimir Putin maintained that no agreement was possible without territorial concessions from his adversary. For its part, Ukrainian diplomacy denounced an “attempt at appeasement” with its enemy.
As the conflict in Ukraine quickly approaches its third year, Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for the first time in almost two years on Friday, November 15.
During this exchange of more than two hours, the German chancellor urged the Russian president to withdraw his troops from Ukraine and to negotiate with kyiv, asking in particular that Moscow demonstrate “willingness to begin negotiations with Ukraine with a view to a just and lasting peace. He also reiterated to Vladimir Putin “Germany's determination to support Ukraine for as long as necessary in its defensive struggle against Russian aggression.” Olaf Scholz finally reiterated “the EU's unwavering commitment to Ukraine”, added the chancellery, specifying that he had previously spoken with the Ukrainian president.
A fact which, however, did not reassure kyiv. At the end of the exchange between Berlin and Moscow, Ukrainian diplomacy denounced what it considered to be an “attempt at appeasement” towards its Russian adversary. “Conversations with the Russian dictator alone do not bring any added value to achieve a just peace,” criticized the latter’s spokesperson, Guéorguiï Tykhy, in a press release, calling instead for “concrete and strong actions which will force him to peace, and not persuasion and attempts at appeasement.
No “no concessions” agreement from kyiv
For its part, the Kremlin declared that it had had with the German Chancellor “a detailed and frank exchange of points of view on the situation in Ukraine”, “at the initiative” of Berlin. Vladimir Putin also told his German counterpart that no peace agreement would be made without territorial concessions from kyiv. “Potential agreements must take into account the security interests of the Russian Federation, be based on new territorial realities and, above all, address the root causes of the conflict,” said a Kremlin press release summarizing the Russian president's remarks. .
The Russian president had not spoken with most Western leaders since 2022, when the EU and the United States imposed massive sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. At the beginning of November, Vladimir Putin regretted that Western leaders had “stopped” calling him. “If one of them wishes to resume contacts, I have always said it and I want to repeat it: we have nothing against that,” he said at the Valdai forum (Russia).
A difficult context for kyiv
This exchange occurs in a very difficult context for Ukraine, which is preparing to experience its third winter under fire from Russia, with a large part of its energy infrastructure damaged or completely destroyed. With the victory in the American presidential election of Donald Trump, the question of the sustainability of American support also arises, which has enabled Ukraine to resist Russian troops since February 2022.
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Germany is the second largest supplier of military aid to kyiv after the United States. But in recent months, and despite repeated requests from Volodymyr Zelensky, the chancellor has tirelessly refused to provide kyiv with long-range Taurus missiles, fearing an escalation with Moscow. Olaf Scholz also refused Ukraine's request for an invitation to NATO.
