Russia willing to negotiate energy deals with Germany: Putin tells Scholz

Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Russia was ready to look at energy deals if Berlin was interested, the Kremlin has said, in their first phone conversation since December 2022.

It said on Friday the two men had a "detailed and frank exchange of views" on Ukraine and that Putin had set out the same position he has been stating for months: any peace deal must address Moscow's security interests and be based on "new territorial realities" - a reference to the fact that Russian troops control a fifth of the country.

Putin also spoke of an "unprecedented degradation" in relations between the two countries, for which he blamed unfriendly actions by Germany, a Kremlin statement said.

"It was emphasised that Russia has always strictly fulfilled its treaty and contractual obligations in the energy sector and is ready for mutually beneficial cooperation if the German side shows interest in this."

Germany was heavily reliant on Russian gas before the war, but direct shipments ceased when the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea were blown up in 2022.

Germany and other European Union countries have imposed successive waves of sanctions on Russia over the war and taken steps to wean themselves off their dependence on Russian oil and gas.

On Ukraine, the Kremlin said Putin's stance was the one that he stated in June when he said that the war could end if Kiev gave up its NATO ambitions and handed over the entirety of four regions claimed by Russia.

Ukraine rejected those conditions as tantamount to surrender.

Berlin's statement

Meanwhile, according to a statement issued by Berlin, Scholz urged Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukraine.

In the call, Scholz "condemned Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw troops", the chancellor's spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said.

The German leader "urged Russia to show a willingness to negotiate with Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace", Hebestreit added in a statement.

Scholz also stressed "Germany's unwavering determination to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression for as long as necessary".

Ukraine's condemnation

However, Ukraine condemned Scholz's call to Putin as an "attempt at appeasement" that does not advance efforts for peace, three years into the Russia-Ukraine war.

"Talk only gives Putin hope of easing his international isolation," Ukraine's foreign ministry said.

"What is needed are concrete, strong actions that will force him to peace, not persuasion and attempts at appeasement, which he sees as a sign of weakness and uses to his advantage."