Scholz justifies his call to Putin, yet admits Russia's ruler did not change his stance

Following criticism from Ukraine and the opposition, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Source: Scholz on Sunday, 17 November, before leaving for the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, writes ntv and Ukrinform, as reported by European Pravda 

Details: According to Scholz, during the call, it was critical to convey to Putin "that he cannot count on the fact that support for Ukraine from Germany, Europe, and many other countries of the world will decrease."

However, Scholz acknowledged that Putin's view on the war has not altered.

Scholz offered another reason in support of his call to Moscow: he believes it would be a bad idea if the elected US president spoke with the head of the Kremlin while Putin did not speak with the head of government of a major European country.

Quote: "We should not have illusions and be naive. Russia and its president started this war... They are ready to risk resources, including their own people, to implement a plan to seize Ukraine, take away its sovereignty and democracy. We cannot and will not allow it. Therefore, it is important to make it clear today that we will not stop our support. On the part of Russia, it would be an illusion to think that Ukraine in the future will not be able to count on our support...

No decision will be made behind Ukraine's back."

Background: 

• On the afternoon of 15 November, it was reported that Scholz had spoken to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for the first time in two years. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy labelled the call a "Pandora's box". However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backed Scholz's decision to speak directly with the Kremlin ruler.
• Jürgen Hardt, a member of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), believes that Putin will see Scholz's move as "a sign of weakness, not strength".
• At the same time, Matthias Miersch, Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), spoke in defence of the chancellor's decision.

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