LIVE – War in Ukraine: Scholz and Putin discuss the conflict, kyiv is outraged

Contrasted reactions this Friday, November 15. Volodymyr Zelensky accused Germany of playing into the hands of Vladimir Putin, after Olaf Scholz spoke to the Russian president to discuss the conditions for peace in Ukraine, the first meeting in almost two years between the two leaders. During the hour-long call, Olaf Scholz asked Russia to show its “willingness to begin negotiations with Ukraine with a view to a just and lasting peace”, according to the German government. The chancellor reiterated that Moscow must withdraw its troops from Ukraine and “end the war”.

This exchange provoked the anger of Ukraine, which saw it as “an attempt at appeasement” towards Moscow at a time when the Ukrainians are losing ground on the front and fear losing the support of the United States, after Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election. Talk to Vladimir Putin “opens Pandora's box”, castigated Volodymyr Zelensky who fears being forced into negotiations unfavorable to Ukraine.

Minute by minute

During the meeting, Vladimir Putin reaffirmed that any peace agreement should reflect the “new territorial realities”according to the Kremlin. This is the Russian position repeated for months. Russia is open to peace negotiations, but with “concessions” on the part of kyiv: the cession of the Ukrainian territories that Moscow annexed in 2022 without fully controlling them. A condition deemed unthinkable by kyiv.

“Conversations with the Russian dictator alone do not bring added value to achieving a just peace,” castigated the spokesperson for Ukrainian diplomacy, Georgii Tykhy, calling instead for “concrete and strong actions” to force Russia into peace.

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Olaf Scholz had warned Volodymyr Zelensky of his call to Vladimir Putin. Washington, Paris and London knew the German Chancellor's intention without, however, the messages having been “coordinates”, according to the entourage of French President Emmanuel Macron.