German Foreign Minister Bärbock announced Putin’s reluctance to communicate with Scholz
The head of the German Foreign Ministry, Annalena Bärbock, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want to communicate with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. According to her, the Russian leader is not ready for telephone conversations.
The last time the politicians called each other was almost two years ago. According to Scholz, this was in December 2022 – before the start of a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine.
The Chancellor said that before the start of hostilities, he and Putin had long conversations, which sometimes lasted up to an hour and a half. “Sometimes in German, sometimes with translation,” said the head of the German government.
Scholz also noted that during the conversations the parties maintained a polite tone, but had serious disagreements on the issue of Ukraine.
What does Scholz want to discuss with Putin?
On October 1, sources in the German government reported that the German Chancellor intends to have a telephone conversation with Putin in the coming weeks. According to them, negotiations could take place on the eve of the G20 summit in Brazil, which will be held in November, but the German side has not yet sent a request for it.
Germany indicated that a conversation with the Russian leader is not taboo for the head of the German government. “[Шольц] all this subordinates the goal of ending the war. He does not rule it out, and I want to confirm this once again,” explained sources in the German government.
At the same time, they indicated that Scholz would be ready to contact Putin only if the “right moment” came for such a dialogue.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit stressed that if the German Chancellor considers this conversation appropriate at some point, he will not be afraid to call the Russian leader.
Most Germans supported negotiations between Scholz and Putin
According to the German agency DPA, the majority of German citizens are in favor of negotiations between the German Chancellor and the Russian President.
A survey by the YouGov public opinion research institute showed that 59 percent of respondents support holding a telephone conversation between two politicians, 26 percent are against it, and 15 percent abstained from answering.
It is noteworthy that in the federal states of the former East Germany, the percentage of people who supported the negotiations between Scholz and Putin was 68 percent of respondents, while 15 percent of survey participants were against.
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