The German Chancellor does not intend to continue the tradition of his predecessor.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz believes that it is inappropriate to communicate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, since these conversations have never resulted in containing Russian aggression.
He said this in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung, answering the question of whether he would continue the tradition of his predecessor Olaf Scholz to call the master of the Kremlin from time to time.
“After the last phone call with my predecessor, there were bombings of a children's hospital. So if this is the result of such phone calls, I would refrain from them for a long time,” Merz replied.
The German Chancellor also recalled that the recent visit of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Moscow was also accompanied by heavy bombing by Russia.
Let us recall that at the end of November 2024, former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Vladimir Putin, as he explained, to urge the master of the Kremlin to stop the war.
At the same time, observers noted that this call could have been a political move by Scholz ahead of the early elections in Germany, when the topic of Russia's war against Ukraine, escalation and negotiations had already come to the fore.
Let us recall that on May 6, Friedrich Merz officially became the new Chancellor of Germany. His candidacy was supported by the Bundestag during the second round of voting.
