'Lasting Peace'? Putin and NATO Leader Deliberate Terms

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has talked over the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a move that Reuters has described as ending almost two years of isolation for the Kremlin.

According to Reuters, Scholz urged Putin to withdraw his troops out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv to build up a “just and lasting peace,” in a conversation that lasted nearly an hour.

News website Politico remarks that the German Chancellor told the Russian President that making use of North Korean soldiers against Ukraine was a serious escalation and expansion of the conflict that couldn’t be ignored.

German news agency DW writes that Scholz claims to have “emphasized Germany's unshakable commitment to support Ukraine in its defensive battle for as long as is necessary” during the phone call.

Reuters reveals that the phone call was arranged after a request from the German government and that Putin demanded that Russia’s security interests to be taken into consideration.

That was not the only demand coming from The Kremlin. According to Reuters, Putin said that any new peace should reflect “new territorial realities” between Ukraine and Russia.

Politico writes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the phone call, arguing that Scholz has opened “Pandora’s box” and that it is crucial to keep Moscow as isolated as possible.

However, Politico also points out that Zelensky has argued that he would like the war to end sometime in 2025, through diplomatic means.

DW speculates that the timing of the phone call seems to have been no accident, as it took place just a few weeks after Donald Trump was elected to become the next President of the United States.

The former and next White House resident has promised to stop sending funds to Kyiv and claims that he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours.

However, all politics are local, and Germany is having a snap election on February 23, with Scholz and his Social Democratic-led coalition government at risk of being ousted.

German political parties in the far-right and the far-left claim that Scholz and his government have not done enough to try to find a diplomatic solution to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

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