Ineffective for peace efforts: Ukraine criticizes Scholz-Putin phone call
Photo: Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
A phone conversation between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not help achieve a just peace. The Kremlin leader perceives Western pleas as a sign of weakness, states the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhii Tykhyi.
He noted that the German side had warned about Scholz's plans to speak with Putin.
"However, even if the German Chancellor did not express positions that contradict Ukraine's, conversations with the Russian dictator as such do not add any value to the pursuit of a just peace," Tykhyi emphasized.
He reminded that lengthy discussions are a resource that the Kremlin leader has been using for 20 years to pursue his interests. Such dialogue gives Putin hope for weakening international isolation.
"Concrete, strong action is required to force him into peace, not persuasion and attempts of appeasement, which he perceives as weakness and uses to his advantage. Concrete actions are well known, most notably the withdrawal of occupational troops from Ukraine's territory," Tykhyi added.
Scholz's conversation with Putin
Today, November 15, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held his first phone conversation in two years with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conversation lasted about an hour.
As stated by the German Cabinet, Scholz urged Putin to withdraw troops from Ukrainian territory and begin peace negotiations to end the war.
In turn, Putin cynically repeated his propaganda, claiming that the "conflict" with Ukraine occurred due to NATO's "aggressive policy."
