“No phone call can stop Russian aggression in Ukraine,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, two days after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“No one will stop Putin with phone calls,” Donald Tusk wrote on the social network X.
“The latest Russian attack this weekend, one of the largest of this war, proved that diplomacy via phone calls cannot replace genuine support from the entire West for Ukraine,” he emphasized.
Ukraine’s energy system suffered one of the largest Russian strikes in recent months, with attacks that killed at least seven people and injured 20 others across the country, authorities said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, criticized for his phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, defended his decision today, reiterating Germany’s unwavering support for Ukraine and ensuring that no decision to end the war will be made without Kyiv.
These statements from the German chancellor were welcomed on Friday by Donald Tusk, who expressed his satisfaction that the German chancellor “reiterated the Polish stance: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.”
The conversation between Chancellor Scholz and President Putin angered Kyiv, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rebuking Scholz for “opening Pandora’s box.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 15 showed no indication that the Russian president has changed his stance on the war against Ukraine.
Speaking from Berlin Airport on November 17, before departing for Brazil to attend the G20 summit, Scholz said the conversation with Putin was worth having to eliminate any illusion Putin may have had that the West would abandon its support for Ukraine.
The West has been providing weapons and other assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
Referring to the potential return of Donald Trump to the White House, Scholz said it would also not be advisable for Washington to maintain regular contact with Putin, as no European leader maintains regular contact with the Russian leader.
The November 15 conversation was the first between Scholz and Putin in nearly two years. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky harshly criticized Scholz for the discussion with Putin, claiming it could help Putin “ease his isolation” and “Russia’s isolation.”
Zelensky stated that such empty exchanges are “exactly what Putin has long been waiting for,” as the now two-and-a-half-year-long war continues.
