Ukraine has expressed concern at the first phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Vladimir Putin has said that NATO should accept « new territorial realities » ahead of any talks to end the war he started, during a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that has sparked concern from Kyiv.
In the first call between the leaders since December 2022, Putin repeated Kremlin rhetoric that the « current crisis » was caused by « many years of aggressive NATO policy aimed at creating an anti-Russian bridgehead on Ukrainian territory », according to a Kremlin readout.
Putin also noted how NATO and the West were guilty of « ignoring the interests of our country in the field of security and trampling on the rights of Russian-speaking residents. » Newsweek has contacted the German Foreign Ministry for comment.
Any negotiations should take into account Russian interests and « proceed from new territorial realities, and most importantly, eliminate the root causes of the conflict.
