“He stressed Germany’s unbroken determination to back Ukraine in its ... noting their country had told Berlin it was not a good idea. “My hope is that Scholz can now say to his electorate ‘look, I have done it, and it’s a waste of time as Putin ...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in their first phone call in nearly two years to pull his forces out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would open the way for a "just and lasting peace".

Germany's government says that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a one-hour call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first such conversation in two years

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin leader’s first publicly announced conversation with the sitting head of a major Western power in nearly two years.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for an hour on Friday afternoon, a German government source said on Friday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against speaking to Vladimir Putin by phone on Friday, saying it would reduce the Russian leader's isolation and keep the war going,

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the German chancellor's phone call with Russia's leader on Friday opened a "Pandora's box" that undermined efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin and end the war in Ukraine with a "fair peace".