by Aleksandra Krzysztoszek
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed satisfaction before the weekend that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had conveyed Poland’s position on the war in Ukraine in his phone call to Putin, only to suggest on Sunday that phone calls with the Russian leader were useless.
Scholz (SPD, S&D) called Putin on Friday to discuss the recent developments in Ukraine and peace prospects. He then called Tusk to report him on the talk.
“I was pleased to hear that the chancellor not only unequivocally condemned Russian aggression but also reiterated the Polish position: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Tusk wrote on X the same day.
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz had called on Putin to demonstrate his willingness to negotiate a ’just and lasting’ peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Then, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, Russian forces launched another attack on Ukraine with drones and missiles. The attack lasted for many hours, and explosions were heard in many cities. At least two people were killed and a dozen injured.
Tusk commented on Sunday’s events, referring to Scholz’s talk with Putin.
“No one will stop Putin with phone calls. The night attack, one of the largest in this war, has proven that telephone diplomacy cannot replace real support for Ukraine from the entire West,” he wrote.
The coming weeks “will be decisive not only for the war itself but also for our future,” he added.
Scholz defends talk with Putin
Scholz rejected criticism, including from Tusk, saying that Ukraine can count on its Western allies and that no decision will be made without Kyiv.
He also lamented that no European leader is in regular contact with Putin, while the United States would now be with Donald Trump, who has been re-elected to the White House.
Scholz’s conversation with Putin was very detailed, but it showed that little has changed in the Russian president’s views on the war, and that is not good news, Scholz said in Berlin on Sunday before leaving for the G20 summit in Brazil, as quoted by AFP.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reportedly warned Scholz against talking to Putin. A source in the Ukrainian president’s office told Reuters that Zelenskyy believes the conversation will increase the Russian leader’s isolation and will not help end the war sooner.
In his daily address to the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy stated that European leaders calling Putin “is exactly what Putin has wanted for a long time.”
“In my opinion, Olaf’s call opened Pandora’s box. Now, there may be other conversations, other phone calls. Just a lot of words,” he said on Friday evening.
For Putin, “it is extremely important to weaken his isolation [...] and to conduct ordinary negotiations that will lead nowhere, as he has done for decades, Zelenskyy added.
In his view, this allowed Russia “not to change anything in its policy,” and “this is exactly what led to the war” against Ukraine.
*first published in: Euractiv.com
By: N. Peter Kramer
