In a phone call with Russian President Putin, Chancellor Scholz called for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
As a government spokesman said, Scholz had also insisted that the humanitarian situation had to be improved and that efforts should be made to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Putin told Scholz that Ukraine was trying to slow down talks with Russia. The government in Kyiv has made unrealistic proposals, it said. The Russian leadership is ready to look for solutions that correspond to their basic attitudes.
After the talks, the spokesman for the Russian Presidential Office, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia was wary of outside interference. The spokesman explained that it was not up to German Chancellor Scholz to decide who should lead Russia. The Russian people decide that.
After a phone call between Putin and Scholz, a phone call between Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron is also planned for Friday.
Selenskyj advisor criticizes Scholz’s statements on Russia
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak has criticized Chancellor Scholz for his exculpatory statements about the Russian people’s responsibility for the war. Scholz just wanted to justify his indecisiveness, Podoljak wrote on Telegram on Friday.
The Chancellor had warned the previous evening not to equate Russia with President Vladimir Putin. “It was not the Russian people who made the fatal decision to invade Ukraine. This war is Putin’s war,” he said.
This distinction is spreading in Europe but is wrong, Podoljak wrote. According to surveys, a majority of the Russian population supports the war and the killing of Ukrainians.
The advisor is responsible for the foreign policy statements of the Ukrainian Presidential Office and also provides information on the ongoing negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.
