Wagenknecht urged Merz to call Putin and visit Moscow

Sarah Wagenknecht, leader of the German Sarah Wagenknecht Union for Reason and Justice party, called on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to call Russian President Vladimir Putin and propose a visit to Moscow. This was reported by the Bild newspaper on June 20.

It is clarified that such a statement was made after the response of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the St. Petersburg International Forum (SPIEF-2025) to a question from the German agency DPA about a possible dialogue with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The Head of State noted that Moscow would not abandon contacts if Merz wanted to resume dialogue.

"He (Merz. — Ed.) should accept the offer of a conversation and call Putin," the newspaper quoted Wagenknecht as saying.

Earlier, German government spokesman Stefan Cornelius reported that the German authorities "took note" of Russia's willingness to engage in dialogue with the chancellor. In addition, politicians of the German parties "Leftists" and "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) called on Merz to hold a conversation with Putin and use this statement by the president to resume diplomacy.

"Now it's up to Mertz," Wagenknecht concluded.

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German Foreign Minister Johan Vadefuhl said on June 12 that he saw no reason for direct talks with Russia, despite the initiative of a number of German Social Democrats to start a dialogue with the Russian Federation. According to him, if negotiations had taken place, Berlin "would have conducted them jointly with European partners," and Germany is "always ready" for such a format of dialogue.