“Melnyk does not think that the chancellor of Germany called the president of the Russian Federation at the right moment”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Of the current leaders – presidents, heads of government – there is probably no one who could take on such a mission, not just do what Olaf Scholz did the other day: call Putin, express his own position, which is unchanged (we hope so ) and hear Putin’s position, which, as it were, remains as concrete as it was two and a half years ago,” the diplomat noted.
Melnyk does not believe that the chancellor called the president of the Russian Federation at a good moment, given the domestic political situation in Germany, where early elections are approaching.
“Perhaps it was necessary to call, but not in a situation where you call Putin from a position of weakness. He knows perfectly well – better than anyone that Germany is now at a crossroads, that the government has lost its majority, and therefore to be, as they say, a laim duck, that is, such a weak duck and call Putin – well, this is just the case when everything was done exactly the opposite. Although earlier, I think there would have been such chances,” said the ex-ambassador to Germany.
The diplomat emphasized that “everyone is looking towards the United States”, hoping that it will be possible to cut “this Gordian knot, this most difficult puzzle since the Second World War”.
“It won’t work here anymore, you know, to make a little call somewhere, something quietly somewhere, something light… No, it’s a gambit. Here you need to be a chess grandmaster to find and predict all the moves. And that is precisely what is needed from the side of Ukraine,” Melnyk summarized.
On November 15, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This happened for the first time since December 2022. According to the German government, Scholz “condemned Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine and called on President Putin to stop it and withdraw the troops.”
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that the phone conversation between Scholz and Putin is “Pandora’s box.”
Subsequently, the Chancellor of Germany explained that his conversation with Vladimir Putin on November 15 did not show a change in the views of the Russian leader on the war against Ukraine. At the same time, he said that it was worth talking to Putin in order to dispel any illusions that he might have about the fact that the West is allegedly going to withdraw its support for Ukraine.