German Chancellor Olaf Scholz would have "no hesitation in having a telephone conversation with the Russian president" Vladimir Putin if he considered the time to be "appropriate," German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin on Monday, UNN reports citing Bild.
Details
Chancellor Scholz has called for accelerating peace efforts in the war in Ukraine, but the German government sees no reason to be optimistic at this time. The Kremlin's recent statements about the war in Ukraine "did not give the impression that they are very willing to enter into constructive peace talks," Hebestreit said. However, he said, Chancellor Scholz would have "no hesitation in having a telephone conversation with the Russian president" if he considered the time to be "appropriate."
The German government cannot name a date for the "further peace conference" discussed by Scholz, Hebestreit said. That would be "hasty". "But it's clear that we have a situation everywhere in the world that virtually everywhere there is a feeling that this war should end as soon as possible," the German government spokesman added.
Addendum
In an interview on Sunday, September 8, Scholz called for increased diplomatic efforts to end Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine. "I think that now is the moment when we also have to discuss how we can get out of this situation of war and achieve peace faster than it seems now," Scholz told ZDF.
The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Monday, September 9, that "Scholz is working on a peace plan to bring Russia to the negotiating table.