Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a telephone conversation
Photo: Alexey Nikolsky / RIA Novosti
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This was reported on the Kremlin website.
In the conversation, Putin informed the German Chancellor of the Russian side's proposals on security guarantees that would exclude further NATO advance eastward and the deployment of strike weapons systems in countries bordering Russia. Putin recalled the draft agreements with the United States on measures to ensure the security of Russia and NATO member countries.
“The hope was expressed that serious negotiations would be organized on all the issues raised by the Russian side,” the message says.
Putin also noted that Kiev continues to stubbornly avoid fulfilling its obligations under the 2015 Minsk agreements, and said that this interferes with holding the summit in the “Normandy format”.
Putin congratulated Scholz on his election as chancellor. The heads of both countries expressed interest in further developing Russian-German ties and agreed to touch upon other topics on the bilateral agenda in the course of further contacts. It was noted that Olaf Scholz, being the first burgomaster of Hamburg, had been dealing with twinning relations with St. Petersburg for many years.
Earlier it became known that the Russian Foreign Ministry declared two diplomats from Germany persona non grata in response to the relevant decision of Berlin regarding the employees of the Russian embassy. The Russian department noted that Moscow will respond proportionately to any unfriendly steps of the FRG in the future.
Later, the Kremlin expressed hope for the continuity of relations between Russia and Germany after the election of a new chancellor in Germany, Olaf Scholz.
