TALKS WITH PUTIN: EU Won’t Let Trump Take the Stage! What’s Behind Scholz’s Call?

TALKS WITH PUTIN: EU Won’t Let Trump Take the Stage! What’s Behind Scholz’s Call?
In his first phone call with Vladimir Putin in nearly two years, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged the Russian president to end the war of aggression against Ukraine and withdraw his troops. Scholz also pressed Putin to engage in negotiations with Ukraine aimed at achieving a just and lasting peace, according to government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit after the roughly hour-long discussion. Scholz reaffirmed Germany’s unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression for as long as necessary.
Putin expressed conditional openness to negotiations but insisted, according to the Kremlin, that any resolution must consider Moscow's security interests and "acknowledge the new territorial realities." He also demanded Ukraine abandon its aspirations for NATO membership and recognize the loss of its territories occupied by Russia. Kyiv and its Western allies categorically reject these conditions.
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing war since 2022, Russia has occupied about 20 percent of Ukraine, which it claims as part of its territory.