German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of Germany’s solidarity in a telephone call on Friday.
“We will continue our military support for Ukraine in close coordination with our European and international partners,” Scholz said in a post of X after the call.
The chancellor said he had agreed with Zelensky to remain in contact “also with a view to possible paths to a just peace” to end Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
After the phone call, Zelensky thanked Scholz for Germany’s help and support, particularly with air defence weapons, in a post on his Telegram channel.
Zelensky said that Scholz also informed him of the details of his recent telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is obvious that only the strength of arms and the strength of diplomacy can force the perpetrator of the war to make peace and that this peace can only be achieved through strength,” Zelensky wrote.
Scholz held an hour-long phone conversation with Putin in mid-November, the first conversation between the two leaders in nearly two years.
Zelensky subsequently criticized Scholz for speaking with Putin, accusing the chancellor of undermining Putin’s international isolation and opening “Pandora’s box.”
