Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday criticized the recent phone call of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he warned would undermine efforts to isolate Moscow on the international stage.
“This is exactly what Putin was asking for weaken his isolation and engage in negotiations without anywhere,” Zelensky said in his evening address.
The call, prompted by Berlin, is the first time this year that Scholz spoke directly with Putin. According to the German government, the two leaders appealed to each other to take steps toward a “just and lasting resolution” — with Scholz urging Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine and begin peace talks, while Putin pressed for Russia’s security interests and “new territorial realities” created during the war.
This kind of talks enables Russia to maintain its policies and, at the same time, give a pretense of the dialogue, Zelensky said. Other Ukrainian officials shared his words, describing the move as an empty gesture that further embellished the story of Putin.
All this falls into the context of growing political pressure for Scholz ahead of the scheduled snap election in Germany on February 23. His government has come under sharp criticism from populist factions at home who argue that the war cannot end through diplomacy alone. Despite such pressures, though, Scholz declared anew that Germany stands firmly behind Ukraine with further military and financial aid.
Western diplomacy seems to be worried, too, especially now when the position of the new US President Donald Trump concerning Ukraine does not seem very clear-cut. Trump stated that the war will shortly end, but hinted at no further measures.
Moscow referred to the conversation as constructive and agreed to continue correspondence with Berlin. Yet, as the Ukrainian government underlines, nothing is as talkative as war, and direct actions are needed to end this war and to prevent another aggression.
How far-reaching the call will be is uncertain, partly because Ukraine still faces increasingly desperate conditions on the battlefield as resources dwindle.
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