German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his conversation with Vladimir Putin on Friday had given no indication of a shift in the Russian President’s thinking on the war in Ukraine but defended his much-criticised decision to phone the Kremlin.
Speaking from Berlin airport on Sunday, immediately before his departure for the G20 summit in Brazil, Scholz said it had been worth talking to Putin to dispel any illusions he might harbour that the West was about to abandon its support for Ukraine.
He added, with reference to Donald Trump’s imminent return to the U.S. presidency, that it would also not be good if Washington were in regular contact with Putin while no European leader was.
“The conversation was very detailed but contributed to a recognition that little has changed in the Russian President’s views of the war – and that’s not good news,” Scholz told reporters.