BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday urged Russia to be willing to negotiate with Ukraine in his first call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in nearly two years. The Kremlin responded that Moscow was open to new talks and pointed to Putin’s earlier proposal that Kyiv should cede territory and back off its plans to join NATO.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz condemned “Russia’s war of aggression” against Ukraine during the call, and called on Putin to end it by withdrawing troops that launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. That conflict reaches its 1,000-day mark next week.