Putin and Scholz Hold First Direct Call in Almost Two Years

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a phone call Friday to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine, according a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The call — the first direct communication between the leaders in almost two years — comes at a critical time for Ukraine as the war-battered nation braces for the third full winter under attack from Russia, with large parts of the country’s energy infrastructure damaged or destroyed.

Uncertainty over support from Western allies has also been growing ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House next year. Germany is Ukraine’s second-biggest supporter after the US and has pledged billions of euros in additional aid.

Scholz this year signaled his readiness to make direct contact with Putin for the first time since December 2022, potentially ahead of the Group of 20 leaders summit in Brazil. But he stressed that he would liaise closely with the US and European allies ahead of any such phone call.

The German leader, who travels to the G-20 gathering in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, is hobbled politically after his coalition government collapsed this month amid a rift with a junior coalition partner. Scholz’s Social Democrats, which are trailing in polls against Germany’s conservatives, secured a deal this week to hold a snap election on Feb. 23.

In an address to parliament Wednesday, Scholz assured lawmakers that his outgoing administration would stand by its commitment to Ukraine — even as he stood by his rejection of delivering long-range weapons such as Taurus cruise missiles, a decision that’s been criticized by other allies of Ukraine.

The chancellor spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy the same day, pledging “steadfast solidarity” with Kyiv. The two discussed “possible paths to a just peace,” Scholz’s spokesman said.

But direct contact with the Russian leader is a sensitive issue within the European Union, with several governments deriding any overture attempts with Putin as useless. French President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to maintain an open line with the Kremlin in the first months of the war fell flat — and irked Kyiv.

One European government official derided Scholz’s move as a useless exercise, while an official from another government said the chancellor is acting from a position of weakness and suggested he would be better off dealing with his domestic travails. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

Some European officials meanwhile have been making last-ditch appeals to the outgoing Biden administration to shore up Kyiv’s position before the presidential term ends in January.

Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, has said he’d seek a quick deal between Kyiv and Moscow, raising concerns in Europe that such an accord would be disadvantageous to Ukraine and possibly entrench gains made by Russia since it invaded in 2022.

The Europeans are asking the US to provide Ukraine with more weapons and artillery, impose additional sanctions on key Russian revenue streams and target Moscow’s ability to acquire banned technologies used in weapons.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a hastily arranged trip to Brussels on Wednesday to reassure NATO and European Union allies that the US will intensify its efforts to send resources to Ukraine ahead of the inauguration of Trump, who has strongly criticized the scale of the US effort to defend Kyiv.

The resources he mentioned — money, ammunition, weapons — mainly come from a $61 billion package passed by the US Congress earlier this year. He added that “every dollar at our disposal” will be rushed through.