Putin open to contacts with Germany’s Scholz: Kremlin

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to contact with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, after the latter expressed willingness to hold direct talks with the Russian leader to end the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remarks on Sunday. He, however, said Putin has no phone call scheduled with Scholz. "For now, there are no agreed talks (with Scholz) in the schedule. Putin has been and remains open to contacts," Russia's state-owned news agency RIA Novosti quoted Peskov as saying.

Earlier in the day, Scholz said in an interview with Der Tagesspiegel daily that he “will have telephone conversations with Putin again as it is necessary to talk to each other.” The German chancellor said the tone of such conversations "is not impolite," despite "absolutely different" views on the situation in Ukraine, which he described as a “senseless war.” He also said it is important to always bring the conversation back to a particular topic on the way for the world to get out of this “awful state.” He said “the conditions for that are clear - the pullout of Russian troops."

Scholz and Putin last had a telephone conversation on December 2, 2022. The Russian president said at the time the German and Western line on Ukraine was "destructive" and called on Berlin to rethink its approach.

The United States and Germany have agreed to send their most advanced battle tanks to Ukraine, indicating a broad shift in the mood of Western countries, which had so far avoided sending heavy weaponry to Kiev because of fear of escalation with Russia.

Washington is expected to send at least 30 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, while Germany has decided to send at least one company of Leopard 2 A6 tanks, which usually comprises 14 tanks, and to allow other countries such as Poland to send the same tanks from their own stockpiles to Kiev.

Berlin has been hesitant to send the Leopards or to allow other nations that have them in their possession to transfer them to Kiev. However, Germany said earlier in the month that it would agree to do so only if the US provided its own tanks.

MG