Scholz said he is ready to discuss Ukraine with Putin

(Patria) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he is ready to discuss a peaceful resolution of the situation in Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin, TASS reported.

Speaking in the Bundestag, he advocated for holding a peace conference on Ukraine with the participation of Russia.

"In this regard, I think we are right when we say that we will talk with the Russian
President," he said.

He added that there are clear principles in peace efforts, especially that all possible decisions cannot be made "behind Ukraine's back and without coordination with partners".

At the same time, the German government currently has nothing to say about a possible phone call between Putin and Scholz. State Secretary Steffen Hebestreit said that the German Chancellor is always ready to contact the Russian President "if it is appropriate", but there are no such plans at the moment.

The newspaper Die Zeit published on October 1, citing official sources, that Scholz plans to contact Putin ahead of the G20 summit to be held in Brazil in November. If such a conversation takes place, the German Chancellor will be the first leader of the Western bloc to communicate with Putin in the last year and a half.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated on October 2 that Putin has always been and remains ready for dialogue. However, he reminded that currently Putin and Scholz have no common topics for conversation. He emphasized that relations between Russia and Germany have practically cooled down.