Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced his anger over Friday's rare phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin, insisting that such talks "always lead to nowhere."
"In my view, Olaf's call opens Pandora's box," Zelenskyy said in a video message shared on social media.
"Now, there could be more talks, more calls... and that's exactly what Putin has been aiming for. It's vital for him to break his international isolation, Russia's isolation."
Scholz and Putin spoke for an hour on Friday, marking their first conversation in nearly two years.
Zelenskyy said he had been informed of the conversation in advance.
During the call, Scholz warned Putin that the deployment of North Korean troops for combat in Russia or Ukraine would be a "serious escalation and expansion of the conflict," German government sources told dpa.
The chancellor also emphasized that Germany's support for Ukraine in its battle against the Russian invasion is long-term and that Putin cannot count on "time being on his side."
German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz demanded that Russia withdraw troops from Ukraine, end the war, and urged Putin "to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of a just and lasting peace."
"The chancellor reaffirmed Germany's continued and unwavering solidarity with Ukraine," Hebestreit said.
Shortly before Friday's conversation with Putin, however, Scholz reiterated to parliament that Germany would not supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus cruise missiles, which Ukraine has repeatedly requested.
According to the Kremlin, Putin expressed his willingness to negotiate with Scholz – but only under conditions favorable to Russia.
He demanded that any resolution to the conflict take into account Moscow's security interests and "be based on the new territorial realities," referring to Russia's military occupation of significant parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
Putin's stated conditions also included Ukraine renouncing its aspirations for NATO membership and recognizing the loss of territories claimed by Russia, according to the Kremlin.
The Ukrainian government has categorically rejected those demands.
In the call with Scholz, Putin also noted the unprecedented deterioration in Russian-German relations "as a result of the unfriendly course of the German authorities," the Kremlin added.
Scholz is seeking to hold a second Ukraine peace conference, this time including Russian officials, following an initial summit in Switzerland last summer. So far, however, there is no date in sight.
Relations between Russia and NATO countries, including Germany, have been severely strained since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Scholz last spoke to Putin on the phone in December 2022, when Scholz called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine during an hour-long discussion.
Russia launched its all-out attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
Scholz traveled to Moscow just over a week before Putin launched the invasion. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two leaders sat 2 meters apart at a large oval table in the Kremlin.
Scholz will attend a G20 summit in Brazil early next week. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also expected to attend the gathering of major economic powers.
That meeting may have prompted the discussion between Scholz and Putin. The Russian president had initially said he would attend the summit but canceled last month, saying he did not want to "disrupt the normal work of the forum."
Putin is the subject of an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. He risks arrest in Brazil.
Ukraine is not a member of the G20, and Zelenskyy was not invited as a guest to Rio de Janeiro by the Brazilian hosts.
Scholz is not planning any direct talks with Lavrov during the summit. However, according to sources close to Scholz, he does plan to discuss the Ukraine war with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is considered Putin's most important ally.
Ukrainian forces have faced intense pressure from relentless Russian attacks along the front lines in recent months and now face uncertainty over continued support from the United States following Donald Trump's victory in last week's U.S. presidential election.
Trump, who will take office in January, has repeatedly expressed skepticism about U.S. aid to Ukraine and signaled his interest in talks with Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia senses nervousness in the West regarding Ukraine, but said it would be premature to speak of changes in stances toward the conflict.
"There are official statements from European representatives who are talking about continuing their general line of providing all kinds of support. And in Russian, that means pumping weapons into Ukraine to continue this war to the end," Peskov said.
