German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in their first phone call in nearly two years to pull his forces out of Ukraine and begin talks with Kyiv that would open the way for a "just and lasting peace."
The Kremlin confirmed the conversation, which it said had come at Berlin's request, and said Putin had told Scholz any agreement to end the war in Ukraine must take Russian security interests into account and reflect "new territorial realities."
"The Chancellor urged Russia to show willingness to enter talks with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace," a German government spokesperson said in a statement.
"He stressed Germany's unbroken determination to back Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression for as long as necessary," the spokesperson added.