Merz says ready to talk to Putin on Ukraine

Friedrich Merz, a candidate for the German chancellorship from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has said that he is ready for a dialog with Russian President Vladimir Putin if it will contribute to a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. He said in an interview with Deutschlandfunk on February 6.

"If I will talk on the phone with Putin, then only if we have a chance to get closer to a peaceful solution," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

The head of the CDU recalled that in 2024, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a telephone conversation with Putin, while "well demonstrated in public" its content.

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On February 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (term expired on May 20, 2024) said that he expects the start of negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the conflict with the participation of Moscow, Kiev, Washington and Brussels.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, said that Zelensky's words about readiness for negotiations are seen as empty. According to him, "it is impossible to perceive this."

Putin has repeatedly reminded that Russia has never refused peace talks, but they should be conducted on the basis of the provisions agreed in Istanbul, not on the basis of "ephemeral demands."

The last round of talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially refused contacts with Moscow. On October 4, 2022, the Ukrainian president put into effect the decision of the country's National Security and Defense Council on the impossibility of holding talks with Putin.