- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Putin for 90 minutes earlier this week.
- After the call, Scholz told reporters that Putin still believes he was right to invade Ukraine.
- The call comes as Ukraine has routed Russian forces in a counteroffensive in the northeast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin still thinks he made the right choice to invade Ukraine, even as his forces continue to suffer major battlefield defeats, Germany’s leader said.
“Sadly, I cannot tell you that the impression has grown that it was a mistake to begin this war. And there was no indication that new attitudes are emerging,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters on Wednesday, one day after speaking with Putin for 90 minutes.
Scholz told reporters that although he holds different views from Putin, the German leader still believes it’s important for the two to remain in contact, according to media reports.
According to a German government readout of the call, Scholz urged Putin to negotiate a ceasefire and withdraw his troops from Ukraine, POLITICO reported. Scholz also stressed the importance of avoiding escalation around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, where ongoing shelling has international watchdogs deeply concerned.
A Kremlin readout of the Tuesday call placed blame on Ukraine for continuing to fight in the unprovoked war and said Putin will keep in touch with Scholz.
Tuesday’s call came as Ukrainian leaders criticized Germany over weapons deliveries, as the country continues to plea for Western weaponry and ammunition to aid in its fast-paced counteroffensive.
“Disappointing signals from Germany while Ukraine needs Leopards and Marders now — to liberate people and save them from genocide,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Tuesday, referring to German tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
He continued: “Not a single rational argument on why these weapons can not be supplied, only abstract fears and excuses. What is Berlin afraid of that Kyiv is not?”
Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the country’s northeastern Kharkiv region has sent Russian troops scrambling, and seen the eastern European country reclaim thousands of square miles of territory that was previously under the occupation of Putin’s forces.
“As of today, almost the entire region is de-occupied. It was an unprecedented movement of our warriors – Ukrainians once again managed to do what many considered impossible,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday after returning from the front lines in Kharkiv.
